Open Up Your Sky
by Dresupi
Summary: "YOU. YOU were my home!" he exclaimed, exasperated. Tears gathered in her eyes,"Then why did you leave?" Part three in my Crimson & Clover series. AU, in the same headcanon as 'Crimson & Clover' and 'Green Eyes'.
1. Cause the Fire Can't Last

**A/N at the end. :) Song for this chapter is 'Don't Lie' by Vampire Weekend. Warnings: Language. This is the first chapter of the third installment of my Crimson & Clover series. If you haven't read the first two installments: 'Crimson & Clover' and 'Green Eyes', what are you waiting for? Go read those first! Otherwise, you are NOT going to know what is going on at ALL.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>"Loneliness is the poverty of self; Solitude is the richness of self."-May Sarton<em>**

**Alice**

"I'm having second thoughts about this haircut…" Alice pulled the short strands out to the side. "Think there's any way they could tape it back on?" She chuckled dryly. It sounded more like a wheeze than anything.

"I think whoever is getting the wig you donated would be disappointed if you asked for it back," said Steve. "It looks fine."

"I don't look like me, though…"

_Maybe that's a good thing…_ she thought as she looked at her reflection in the hotel mirror. She'd been going for a more impish look, like Julia Roberts in 'Hook'. When she really studied her image, she was reminded more of Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. The short cut made the hollows in her cheeks more pronounced. Her eyes looked enormous and sad. Her chin and nose looked pointier than before. It was so different from what she'd been used to that she couldn't form an objective opinion about it.

She raised her eyebrows thoughtfully. That WAS a good thing. She didn't need to have an opinion about her looks. This hairstyle would be easier to take care of, so she could spend more time and energy on what mattered.

Which was, of course, finding Bruce before SHIELD did.

It had been almost 3 months since he had left New York.

3 months since he'd seen Logan kiss her and had seen her momentarily kiss him back.

Thinking about that made her feel sick, so she banished the thought and focused more singularly on finding him.

"It's…cute. You look cute," Steve assured her with a smile. His voice brought her out of her thoughts and her attention snapped back to the present. The here and now.

Dr. Xavier thought she was in deep denial and had told her as much. He couldn't be further from the truth.

She wasn't denying anything. She was simply honing her focus. If she didn't have all those other thoughts flitting around in her head, she would be more affective at finding Bruce.

_"Alice, dear…you can't keep bottling up all these thoughts and emotions. You're going to have to feel those feelings eventually." _

_"I can't afford to be a blubbering mess right now. I'll just put it off until we find him. I'll deal with EVERYTHING eventually, I promise." _

_Charles sighed and shook his head. "You know I don't approve of an undertaking this large so soon after your breakdown."_

_Alice nodded, "I know, Professor, but really, I'm a LOT better now. I have a mission. I have a reason to live."_

_"Your reason to live shouldn't be another person. You shouldn't place all that pressure on someone." _

_She pressed her lips together, unsure of what she was supposed to say._

_"What I mean is…what will you DO if things don't work out the way you want them to?"_

_ "I'll adapt," she promised. _

_"Alice, you NEED to learn the difference between living in loneliness and living in solitude. People who are lonely will stop at nothing to find someone or something to divest them of their loneliness. People who are comfortable in solitude don't have that need. You have never been alone, not ever in your adult life. You need to find your contentment with solitude, so you can appreciate the presence of another. Then, it won't be a need so much as you will have someone with whom you can feel as content as when you are alone."_

"Alice?" Steve's voice interrupted her thoughts once more.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry…I was lost in my thoughts again…"

He raised his eyebrows knowingly. "Are you packed? I'll take your bag out for you," he gestured to the door, where his duffel bag was already packed and waiting.

She hastily applied eyeliner and lip gloss, "Yeah. Take it. It's on the floor by the bed."

She threw the make up into her purse and pulled her hoodie over her head. She ran her eyes over the room, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything before following him out the door.

The car they'd "borrowed" from Tony was parked in front of the hotel. She got settled in the passenger seat while Steve paid for the room.

They started driving south. They'd stayed here in Indiana for the night, but were on their way down to Colorado.

They stopped for breakfast at a diner. Steve preferred to stay away from chain restaurants. There was less chance that they'd be recognized.

She ordered cottage cheese with fruit and a cup of hot tea. Steve ordered his usual: pancakes with bacon and eggs, orange juice and coffee.

She ate in relative silence, responding to Steve whenever he talked to her, which wasn't often. He knew she wasn't a morning person and mercifully kept his thoughts to himself until she could ingest some caffeine.

The check came and it was her turn to pay, so she pulled out her purse and rummaged around in it for her wallet. She moved things around, pulling things out to look for it. She really needed to get more organized.

She was careful not to pull out the small handgun she now carried with her. She'd made that mistake at a rest stop in Illinois and had to explain herself to several state troopers who had stopped there for a routine bathroom break.

It wasn't like it was illegal for her to have it. She had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but it was understandably uncomfortable for some people.

She pulled out her card and paid for the meal. It had taken Steve a while to accept that she just wasn't going to let him pay for everything. They traded off on hotel rooms and food. Tony was footing the bill for gas and car upkeep.

She didn't think any of them had thought they'd be looking for him this long.

He was just so slippery. Each time there had been a Hulk citing, they'd all raced there, only to find Bruce gone without a hint of where he'd been heading. He hadn't hurt anyone or done TOO much damage, but that wasn't the point. The point was that the American people didn't want a green gamma giant stomping all their azaleas and tearing up their driveways. And that shouldn't be something that they worried about.

They got back in the car and continued towards the interstate. As they reached the exit, Steve's phone rang. Without looking at it, he tossed it in Alice's lap, "Answer that, please."

She looked at the screen and groaned. "It's Tony. Can we just let it go to voicemail?"

"Alice, you really need to start standing up to him. Don't let him bully you," he said encouragingly.

She sighed loudly and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey there, Hot Lips. Put Cap on. Let the adults talk," said Tony, in the tone he reserved only for her and the people he truly despised.

"He's driving," she said flatly, her face felt hot.

"Speaker phone. If you can manage that," he said crossly.

She sighed and turned on the speaker phone, shrugging in apology to Steve.

"Cap? You there?"

"I'm here, Tony. Although I don't know why you couldn't talk to Alice…"

"Look. Just…come ho—BACK to New York."

Alice winced in spite of herself. She wasn't sure what it was about Tony that made all her defenses useless. She hadn't thought of New York as her home in a while, but for some reason, hearing it from Tony REALLY hurt. It felt like all the old wounds were re-opened and salt rubbed in.

Now that she thought about it, even though he said otherwise, it was obvious that Tony only had put up with Alice because of Bruce. He had been completely fine with her when she had been nothing more than a mass murderer, but now that she'd 'cheated' on Bruce, she was the scum of the earth.

It wasn't that she blamed him for thinking that way, but regardless, it hurt. All of it really, really hurt.

"I'm better capable of finding Bruce than you guys are. I can fly faster," Tony insisted.

"I'm not coming back until I find him," she protested defiantly. She knew there was nothing Tony hated more than open defiance. And for Bruce, she'd do anything. Including, but not limited to standing up to the one person who could topple her defenses with one well-timed insult. Because she KNEW that Tony wouldn't be able to handle him unless she was there. And even though they weren't friends anymore, she didn't want anything to happen to him.

"WE DON'T NEED YOU," he punctuated. Loudly.

His words stung. He might as well have slapped her.

"Okay, wait," said Steve, "'We' as in YOU and Bruce? Are you speaking FOR him?"

"Yes. Because WE don't need her."

She didn't know why this was hurting her so much. Tony was clearly a child.

"Really? What are you going to do when you find him and he's unable to control his transformation?" asked Alice, swallowing the lump that threatened to rise in her throat. "There have already been 4 incidents, Tony. There is only so much you can do to cover it up before SHIELD finds out."

"They're REALLY preoccupied with something else. It's been easier than you'd think," said Tony.

"Still. If he keeps destroying small town America, something's bound to give."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to find him before he destroys all 30,000 towns in America. Rough estimate," he countered.

"What are you going to do? Pick up the Hulk and fly him back to New York? I hope you've been working out, son," Steve said condescendingly.

"Listen, Old Man. I could calm him down before Alice came into the picture, and I can do it again."

"Tony. Maybe eventually, you'll be able to, but he's not used to calming himself anymore!" Alice protested. "You have to let me help you."

It was silent on the other end for a long moment.

"Fine. I guess since it's YOUR mess, you should help clean it up. Steve, make sure you keep an eye on old Hoover Lips there," he said coldly.

Steve reached over and ended the call.

"Why did you do that?" asked Alice, "He's only going to call back."

He eyed her cautiously, all the while trying to keep his eyes equally on the road and on her.

"Um…just needed a break. He can be a bit much."

"Tell me about it. Did he just call me a vacuum?"

Steve shrugged, "I don't know…" he trailed off. There was something he wasn't telling her.

The phone rang again. He fumbled with the phone before answering it exasperatedly, "What now?"

"Okay…I wasn't FINISHED with my instructions here…" Tony said sarcastically.

"Sometime soon, you and I should have a talk about what's appropriate to call a lady."

"That might be a pertinent conversation, if there were indeed a lady present."

"You're on THIN ice, Stark."

"And you'd know ALL about that, wouldn't you?"

Steve ended the call again.

Tony called back almost immediately. "STOP DOING THAT!"

"Stop making an ass of yourself!" Steve commanded.

Alice made herself small, hunching her shoulders and pulling her hood over her head. Tears fell silently down her cheeks, but she was the only person who knew. She didn't hear the rest of what Tony said, although he must have addressed her at some point because Steve looked at her momentarily and Tony asked, "You there, Alice? Or are you sucking face with another guy?"

Alice exhaled heavily, the memory of Bruce's face when he'd seen her with Logan suddenly fresh in her mind. The pain in his eyes, put there by her, was too much.

"TONY," Steve interjected. "Knock it off. If you can't be civil, at LEAST be professional."

"You know me well enough to know that I'm not professional at all, Rogers."

"Apologize," he ordered, his tone changing.

"Fine. Sorry. That better, Gramps?"

"Could you repeat yourself?" asked Alice, ready to just be done with the conversation.

"She can't even ACCEPT my apology? Where's the fun in apologizing?"

"I'll accept it when I know it's sincere," she said bluntly, "Until then, save your breath. I'm sure you'll need it so you can keep insulting me…Now, could you repeat yourself, PLEASE?"

Either Tony was out of insults or he was taking pity on her. Alice assumed it was the former. "There was a sighting in Ohio. Near his birthplace."

"Oh? And that's…?" she asked, embarrassed that she didn't know where Bruce was born.

"Dayton…" he said slowly, as if he were speaking to someone of much lower intelligence.

_Which I am,_ she thought bitterly.

"Anyway, there was a Hulk sighting near Dayton and we need you guys to smooth things over for this one. Convince them not to contact the army or anything. He didn't do much damage, so I don't think there's much cause for worry. He was probably just visiting his childhood home."

"Where is it?" Alice heard herself ask.

She craved any and all information about him. She hadn't realized how little she actually knew about him until he was gone and everyone else knew things that she didn't.

"I don't know. It's not important right now," Tony said exasperatedly. "You guys are pretty close by and you can get there before I can."

"Why were you asking us to come back to New York, then?" asked Alice in spite of wanting to keep quiet.

"Because, genius, like I already said, it's on your way back from where you are. But even if you're not coming back, you're still closer."

"Oh. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Next time, I'll talk about something that might hold your interest more. Kiss any other guys lately?"

She really just needed to learn to let Steve ask the questions. It seemed that the very sound of her voice was enough of a catalyst for Tony to become toxic and venomous. It was painful to hear him be his old sarcastic self with everyone else when he treated her like a pariah, a pest to be eradicated, a bug to be squashed under his heel. Whenever he talked to her, she wanted to just disappear.

"TONY. ENOUGH," Steve said loudly. "Is that all?"

"That's all."

"Good." He ended the call for hopefully the last time and silence fell in the car.

Steve usually stuck up for her when Tony got out of hand. So did Clint and Natasha. Thor hadn't returned from Asgard yet, so he didn't even know what was going on.

Alice hunched down again, waiting for another lecture from Steve.

"Want some ice cream?" he asked.

Alice frowned, peeking out at Steve from her hood. "Ice cream? NOW?" It was barely 11 am.

"Sure, why not?" he grinned brilliantly, like he'd just discovered the cure for cancer or something.

"We have to go to Dayton," she said deliberately.

_Did he forget? He IS 95 years old. _

"I know. But we can stop for ice cream first. Half hour tops. 30 minutes won't make much difference."

Alice was silent, unsure of what Steve was trying to do.

"What's the matter? Don't you like ice cream?" he asked, nudging her knee.

"I do, but…"

"I think we could both use a break. Short though it is. We've been going nonstop for 3 months. That's a quarter of a year, Alice. 30 minutes for ice cream isn't going to hurt anything."

She nodded, feeling a smile pulling at her lips. It felt foreign and stiff. "Okay," her voice squeaked with the effort not to cry. She didn't know what was wrong with her. It was ice cream for crying out loud.

He pulled out his Starkphone. "JARVIS, where is the nearest ice cream parlor?"

"3 exits from your current location, Captain Rogers. Approximately 4 miles. I'll activate your GPS."

"Thank you."

They pulled into the parking lot of an ice cream parlor. It was old fashioned, down to the pink and white décor.

They got out of the car and Steve held the door for her.

They sat at a booth near the front. Alice unzipped her hoodie and pulled her legs up into the seat with her.

Their server approached, glancing sideways at Steve while she took their order.

She ordered a root beer float. Steve ordered a hot fudge sundae with sprinkles.

The server was young, blonde and giggly. She blushed when Steve called her ma'am and practically scurried back to fix their order.

Alice propped her head up on her hand and gazed out the window, wondering where Bruce was right now. If he was thinking about her or if he couldn't. If thinking about her was what caused the 4 Hulk incidents.

"Alice…" Steve began.

_Here it is. He's going to lecture me. _

"Hmm?" she asked, turning to face him.

"How are you?" he asked earnestly. "Really? How are you really? Don't lie to make me comfortable."

She widened her eyes in surprise. She wasn't expecting him to ask that. "I'm—I'm…" a tear betrayed her, slipping down her cheek. "Not okay, honestly."

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "I'm sorry it's so rough for you right now."

"It's not your fault, Steve. You've been great. I just…"

"I know it's not my fault, but, I'm still sorry."

"Thank you, Steve," she pressed her lips together in the semblance of a smile.

"I can't tell you everything will work out the way you want it to, but I can tell you that you'll be okay. Eventually, it will get easier."

"That's what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid I'll wake up one day, and I won't want him anymore…" she whispered quietly.

Steve reached out and grasped her hand tightly for a moment, squeezing it even tighter before he let it go.

The server brought their ice cream and smiled warmly at them. Steve thanked her with his trademark 100-watt smile, which caused her to blush AGAIN as she scooted him a bowl of extra sprinkles.

"I…uh…didn't know how many you wanted…" she giggled.

"I think this should just about cover it, thank you, ma'am."

She giggled nervously and walked quickly behind the counter to clean something. She kept sneaking peeks at Steve, though.

Alice smirked at the oblivious man opposite her and took a sip of her float.

"What?" he asked, making sure to use all of the sprinkles in the bowl.

She shook her head and chuckled. "Looks like you have QUITE an admirer there…"

"Really? I think she was just being nice," Steve peered at the giggly girl behind the counter.

"I wonder what MARIA would think about your…extra sprinkles," she waggled her eyebrows.

Steve sputtered for a few seconds before the server came back to the table. She slid the check to Steve with a smile and thanked them for their patronage.

Steve flipped the check over and paled slightly.

"What? Sticker shock? Did she overcharge you?" Alice reached for the check and did the math in her head. It shouldn't be more than 7 dollars with tax. When she looked at the total, she saw what made Steve blanch. "OH! She gave you her number! Well, how 'bout that?" she teased.

Steve simply shook his head and stood, going to the counter to pay the bill. He called the server over and said a few words to her, probably setting her straight.

_Poor girl…_Alice thought. She stood, grabbed her purse and hoodie and walked towards the door. She didn't want to stand there and make it more awkward.

Steve joined her presently, his face red and lips pressed together.

"What did you say?" asked Alice as they put on their seat belts.

"Just told her I was involved with a wonderful woman, but I was flattered by her interest."

"Wow, Steve. I wish Bruce had gotten YOU to break up with me for him. Maybe I wouldn't have…" she swallowed thickly, shaking her head. "Not sure where I was going with that. Stopping now."

He gave her a sympathetic look.

She chanced a smile. She hoped it looked sincere.

"There. I was hoping to make you smile," said Steve. "Not a smirk, a genuine smile. My day has truly been productive," he said, sounding sincere.

She felt her smile broaden. She leaned over to turn on the radio.

Her phone buzzed not long after they started driving again.

A text from Darcy.

_"Chin up, Gorgeous! You and Steve-O drive safely." _

_ "We always do," _she replied.

_"Selfie, plz. I want to see your haircut." _

Alice sighed, and obliged Darcy, sending her a selfie. Not a great one, but she wasn't trying to impress anyone.

_"Hair looks great. You look sad, though." _

_ "I'm actually better. Heading to Dayton, OH." _

_ "I won't keep you. Love you and be careful!" _

_ "Love you, too, Darce." _

Darcy texted her daily to check in with her. She had been seriously worried and upset after Alice's breakdown 3 months prior. So had everyone, apparently. Clint now made it a point to touch base once a week, whether that meant a call, text or actually showing up somewhere. Natasha wasn't the 'touch base' kind of person, but Alice knew that Steve kept her in the loop.

It was a little embarrassing, though. Alice was never someone who liked attention, but everyone seemed to be giving it in abundance lately.

It was a relatively short drive to the Dayton, OH sheriff's department. When they got out, Alice unzipped her hoodie and fixed her hair in the mirror. She stowed the hoodie in the back seat. She clipped her SHIELD ID to her belt loop.

Maria Hill had given her a few pointers on how to speak to police chiefs and sheriffs in these relatively small towns they frequented. They didn't respect women as a general rule. There had been a few exceptions along the way, but for the most part, they looked at Alice like a little girl playing dress up.

It was important, Maria stressed, to assert authority without having to say it. So she'd helped Alice with how she held herself.

"_It's like Margaret Thatcher said, 'Power is like being a lady, if you have to tell people you are, you aren't.' So square your shoulders, sit back on your hips. Pelvis forward, shoulders back,"_

_Alice imitated her stance, feeling very much like Boss Hogg from Dukes of Hazzard. "So…I just…saunter?" she asked. _

_Maria had cracked a smile at her, which was something Alice wasn't used to seeing. But then again, she was more laid back around Steve, who was trying to hide his laughter while leaning against the back wall of the interrogation room they were using. _

_"Pretty much, yeah…" she suppressed a smile while trying to correct Alice. _

She'd finally gotten it, making subtle changes to the cartoony stroll she'd started with. She actually decided to use a few of Tony's mannerisms to her advantage.

Dayton was a rather large town. Nothing along the lines of say, New York or even Memphis, but still rather large. Larger than they'd dealt with before. Bruce had stuck to small towns mostly. He was less likely to be noticed in a big city, but the threat of stress was greater.

She walked into the sheriff's department the way Maria taught her. Like she owned the place. So…pretty much like Tony would have.

Steve followed behind her. He'd gotten pretty good at keeping a straight face. As well he should, it was his idea to have her 'run things' when they visited a police station or sheriff department. She assumed it had something to do with him wanting her to be more assertive. Stand up for herself. Stop being such a wet blanket.

She had to agree. She couldn't keep on living the life of a damsel in distress, always letting the men in her life rescue her from one thing or another. THOMAS saved her from Ryker, for crying out loud.

"Hey there, hon…who's in charge?" Alice asked, smiling broadly at the officer behind the front desk.

"That'd be Sheriff Brooks…" said the obvious newbie nerviously. He looked Alice up and down. "Did you schedule a meeting?"

"We're with SHIELD, he should be expecting us," Alice gestured to the ID clipped to her hip.

"OH!" The young officer exclaimed. Officer Duke, according to his name tag. "You're…YOU'RE HAVEN!"

Alice wasn't surprised. Her name had been plastered on everything not nailed down for the past few months. While she'd given no interviews in hopes that the media buzz would die down, it had not. It had only served to make her look like a recluse, a rare flower only to be viewed once in a blue moon. And when people recognized her, it was only a matter of time before the media caught up to them. They had to make this quick.

She smiled, hoping this guy could keep cool. "The one and only…listen, Officer Duke, could you take me back to Sheriff Brooks?"

"And you're…you're…CAPTAIN AMERICA! Oh my GOD…I met Haven and Captain America!"

"Son…if you could…" Steve said impatiently, still trying to maintain the friendly façade.

"Of course, of course…" The officer got up quickly, setting his rolling chair rolling back into the wall. He walked into the back of the office, looking over his shoulder every so often as if he couldn't believe his good luck.

Alice and Steve followed, keeping their distance. Steve shot her a look, his face stoic, but his eyes gave away his amusement. He shook his head almost indeterminably. Alice had to stifle a chuckle. She wondered if he'd ask for their autographs. It wouldn't be the first time.

He led them to an office, not unlike the others they'd been in during the past few months. A middle aged gentleman with a pot belly and a closely trimmed beard sat behind the desk. He held out his hand to Steve and then to Alice, almost grudgingly.

She wasn't surprised by this behavior, though. On the contrary, it was what she had come to expect from every man she'd spoken to in field of law enforcement. It seemed like saving the city of New York and potentially the world didn't change their opinion that she belonged barefoot in the kitchen rather than where she was currently.

"Captain Rogers, Ms. Vorso, it's a pleasure to meet both of you. I wish it could be under different circumstances," he said cordially.

"Mr. Brooks, I'd like to make this brief. We're all very busy people, I'm sure. You with your city to keep safe, and us with our…" she cocked an eyebrow, "WORLD to keep safe."

He looked taken aback. She enjoyed putting these men in their place a little more than was healthy.

"You had a positive Hulk sighting here yesterday?" she continued.

"We did," he said bluntly. "We've come to expect them whenever Banner is AWOL, but we had no notice this time, which was worrisome."

"We DO apologize for that, but you see, the Hulk is under control and practically harmless."

"It was my understanding that he is harmless when he's with YOU. If you're here, where the hell is he?"

"He's currently in a safe location, sleeping off his transformation."

"So he's not AWOL, then? I thought you guys were more on top of things up there in SHIELD. Must be difficult to save the world when you can't even keep track of one big green guy."

"We never lost him. He likes to visit his home from time to time. I'm sure you can't begrudge him that."

"It'd be one thing if he was coming back for a nice little visit. It's another completely when he's destroying our landscaping."

Steve frowned, "It was our understanding that he didn't DO any damage."

"Well, not on the magnitude that he usually does, but there are still a couple trees ripped out and sod that was dug up."

"You're right," said Steve. "Utter destruction. I'm surprised you didn't call FEMA."

Alice pressed her lips into a flat line, the closest semblance to a smile she could muster for this asshole.

"Send your landscaping bill for your _trees_ and your _grass_ to Stark Industries. It will be taken care of with the UTMOST urgency," she said primly.

"Try to make sure it doesn't happen again. Tighten the leash or whatever," Brooks said, standing to shake their hands again, effectively ending the meeting.

Alice didn't offer hers. She was fuming.

"Excuse me, but Dr. Banner has done an awful lot for this country. If he wants to come home to visit his hometown, he'll damn well do it," she ground out coldly.

"HE'S perfectly welcome. It's the big green monster that isn't," snapped the sheriff.

Alice set her jaw before turning on her heel and stalking out of the office. Steve followed close behind.

Officer Duke was waiting for them outside the door. "Ms. Vorso, I was wondering if I could bother you for a picture? Nobody's going to believe me that I met you today…"

"Sorry, there's no time. The trees and landscaping of the neighboring towns are in trouble. We must be off!" she said sarcastically as she quickened her pace. Steve had no trouble keeping up with her, though.

"That was rude," he said bluntly once they were safely inside the car.

"You KNOW I don't do pictures, Steve."

"Still…Jules is going to have a field day with that one. You can't even blame that on your clumsiness like you could the coffee incident in Bloomington."

"I TRIPPED. It was regrettable that the Chief of Police's crotch got in the way of my coffee."

"Sure. You TRIPPED."

She scoffed, "You COULD have helped me out back there. Stand up for your team mate?"

"You looked like you were handling it."

"Not me. BRUCE. You could have stuck up for Bruce."

"Bruce isn't my teammate. He abandoned the team."

Alice was silent for a moment.

"The ONLY reason I'm here is because of you. I'm helping YOU because you're my friend."

"Because you're worried I'll try to off myself again," she said bitterly.

"NO. Because this is important to you. I'm not here to babysit. I'm here to be supportive."

She felt her jaw relax. "Oh…sorry, Steve."

"You know, you don't always have to be on the defensive, Alice. Everyone's not against you."

It certainly felt that way sometimes. Still, she felt badly for doubting Steve.

"I'm sorry…I just…"

"Alice, Tony's being a jerk. I'm not the only one who thinks so. You should give yourself more credit. You have more of us in your corner than you realize."

She felt the corners of her mouth pulling upward for the second time that day as she thought about all the people who cared about her. Darcy, who took time out of her busy schedule to text and/or call her daily. Clint, who checked in weekly. Dr. Xavier, who was providing her with free (and most likely, extremely frustrating) therapy. And most of all, Steve, who was currently putting his entire life on hold to help her on this seemingly endless hunt for Bruce.

And to think that she'd been too busy focusing on the negative. Tony could go fuck himself. She didn't need his approval.

She was going to find Bruce, bring him back to New York, and then they could work through all their crap. And for better or for worse, he wasn't the 'end-all-be-all' of her life. She had friends who would go to the ends of the earth for her.

It didn't cure the ache she felt deep inside, the part of her soul that needed mending, but it was a start. It took the edge off.

She settled back in the car seat, feeling, for the first time in a long while, like she'd finally broken the surface of the dark water she'd been floundering in for the past few months. She took a deep breath, allowing the air to fill her lungs. Lungs that no longer felt constricted.

She could finally catch her breath.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Hi, again! I hope you liked this chapter. Alice has changed a LOT from the beginning of C&C, hasn't she? It was difficult for me to get started on this chapter, because for one, it was a complete rewrite from what I had to begin with. For another, this takes place 3 months after the end of 'Green Eyes', so Alice has changed a LOT MORE. She's colder, more quiet, she still has her sense of humor, but it's darker. She is just...not handling Bruce's disappearance well at all. Tony's certainly not helping.**

**I think Dr. Xavier is correct in his assumption that she is in denial. She's textbook.**

**The quote at the beginning of the chapter is something that is going to define Alice's growth and arc for this installment.**

**Anyway, there will be some angst in this installment, not as much as what was in 'Green Eyes', though. There is going to be less action, more feels. Also, this takes place RIGHT BEFORE Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I won't be writing about any of those events, though. Just to serve as a timeline. :)**

**Oh, and I'll be checking in with Bruce in Chapter 2, so don't worry!**

**As always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, I do own Alice, Jules and Thomas, however.**

**Please review! Your reviews give me life! :D**

**Follow/Favorite if you feel so inclined! I'll be updating on Fridays, unless something changes.**


	2. Now I'm a Stranger

**A/N at the end. :) Song for this chapter is 'I Wanna Get Better' by the Bleachers. Warnings: Language and angst. The usual. **

* * *

><p><strong>Tony<strong>

Tony cracked his neck loudly as he stretched. This damn office chair had to go. It was cramping his back.

"Lumbar support, my ass…" he grumbled, standing slowly and scooting the seat back roughly against the wall behind his desk.

"Lumbar support your BACK, technically," Clint remarked, strolling into Tony's office.

Tony rolled his eyes almost audibly. "What is it, Big Bird? I'm very busy and important."

"Big Bird? I'm flattered," the archer quipped.

"Just…shut up. What do you want?"

_I don't have time for this shit, Barton…honestly…_

"I MAY have a solution to your Bruce problem."

_Well La-Dee-Da. _

"Oh, did he happen to run away to the rarely visited coat closet in your apartment? Is he there now, asleep with his thumb in his mouth and a teddy bear under one arm?"

Clint frowned, "No…"

"Well then, Robin Hood, it appears that you DON'T have a solution to my Bruce problem."

_Not a huge surprise there._

"Okay…not an IMMEDIATE solution, but I have a lot of confidence that this will help us find him."

"It might look like I'm not listening…" Tony trailed off, not intending to finish the sentence. He took his seat again at his desk.

"Fine. Don't take me up on this. Just sit here on your throne of righteousness and pass judgment on anyone you see fit."

"Well, if I have your permission…"

"I know a pair of…hunters," Clint began.

_Hunters? Hunters of what? I need more info. Deer hunters? People hunters? Rare animal hunters? What the fuck kind of hunters is he talking about? I must know! But don't look too interested, Stark. Leave him dangling a little. _

Tony slammed his laptop shut and turned towards him. "Go on…"

_Smooth move, ex-lax._

"They specialize in finding things that aren't exactly what you would call…normal."

_Say werewolves. Say fucking werewolves, I swear, I will marry you, Barton._

"Examples. Examples, my dear Barton, or I'm afraid I'll be forced to pretend to ignore you until you get offended and leave. And nobody wants that drama."

"Vampires. Zombies. Werewolves."

_THANK YOU! Be cool. BE COOL._

"None of those exist, Harry Potter."

"Wendigos. Sasquatch."

"Did they find Nessie too? Omigod, Clint! Do they ride a magical leopluridon to their Candy Mountain lair?"

Clint set his jaw furiously. "Tony. At this point, we can use all the help we can get. SHIELD's starting to notice something's not right. Dayton was too big of a city. It's becoming harder and harder to explain this away."

"How do you know that?"

"They're asking questions. Look. I know the drill. I've done it to other people before. I don't like having it done to me."

Tony sighed heavily, like what Clint was proposing was annoying him greatly. Not like he was busting at the seams to find out if werewolves were real. "Fine. Call your hunters."

_And to find Bruce. Seam-bustingly ready to find Bruce…and if there's time…werewolves._

"Cool. Consider it done, BOSS…" Clint snapped his fingers and bounced slightly on the balls of his feet.

_Werewolves later. Bruce now. Find Bruce. Then, find a werewolf. THEN, when Bruce gets back, you and he can try to replicate the DNA. Make a weremouse. A wereroach. NO, NO…A weresloth. _

_ But for now. Bruce. Find the Brewsky._

Tony opened his laptop again, hoping to get something on the tracking software. Bruce's gamma signature was moving so fast, it was hard to get a definitive location. The closest he could narrow it down was to about a 20 mile radius. By the time Steve and Alice got close, the signature had already moved.

He felt Clint's eyes on him. And people called HIM obnoxious.

"You're still here, Legolas?"

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about something else."

_God, don't talk to me about Alice. Please._

"No. You may NOT loft all your furniture."

"Not quite what I wanted to talk about. Besides, I've already done it."

_Well, THAT'S going to fuck up the resell value._

"Okay…I do not know how to pump the smell of freshly baked cookies through the central cooling unit. I just can't replicate the smell. Still working on it, though."

"Thanks…but…"

"Let me guess. This has something to do with the GIRL."

_Maybe if I bring it up first, it won't be so bad._

"Well…"

"What about her? You know I don't like talking about this."

"I think you're making a huge mistake, burning this bridge."

"Bridges aren't ever completely gone. I'm a billionaire. I can commission another bridge."

"Are you serious? You think you can just buy her friendship, Tony?"

Tony shrugged, "Her scruples leave much to be desired, I'm sure with a few well timed monetary gifts, she'll come back around."

"I don't think she will."

"Eh, well. Not a HUGE loss, to be honest."

"It IS a huge loss. What if she wants to leave? What if she wants to leave and we're stuck with a raging Hulk that we can't control anymore?"

"I don't think she'd appreciate that you think of her as only a Hulk handler," Tony said sardonically. "Besides, she can't leave. She's the Hulk handler."

"Well, if we're playing with that logic, neither can Bruce. Has someone informed him of that?"

Tony chose to ignore the question.

"I don't think you know how much you're hurting her," Clint insisted, changing tactics

"How much I'm hurting HER? REALLY? After what SHE DID to ALL OF US? After what SHE DID, you're worried about HER? I don't get it, Clint. You and Steve…are you BLIND? She broke up the team. She Yoko'd us. She got all suicidal and started hiding things from Bruce, and now…he's GONE. He's my best friend and he's GONE. He left because of HER. He left without notice, without saying goodbye, he's just GONE, and you know what? That fucking sucks. Because I thought he and I…I thought…"

He snapped his mouth shut. It was turning into something real that he couldn't handle. He hated Clint at that moment for forcing him to talk about it.

"Oh…I get it. You're mad at Bruce," the archer smiled slightly, close-lipped.

_Smug bastard._

"NO! I'm not mad at him! He's the victim here…" Tony trailed off, he wasn't even convincing himself.

"You're mad at him and you're taking it out on Alice because you just realized how important she is to him and you're jealous of that."

_No…_

"I'm not jealous of ALICE. I'm not that…vain."

Clint raised his eyebrows, not totally convinced.

"Okay, okay, I AM that vain, but I'm not jealous of her. I just…thought Bruce and I were closer friends than we apparently are. I didn't know that ALICE was the only thing keeping him here."

"Tony…"

"Shut. Your. Damn. Mouth. I've got no time to feel special, Mr. Rogers."

"ACTUALLY, I'm Mr. Barton. STEVE is Mr. Rogers."

Tony turned slowly, glaring.

"Fine. Fine, I'm gone. If you think I LIKE being the person everyone comes to with their FEELINGS, you're dead wrong, Stark…" Clint grumbled as he left. "I'll call the Winchesters, though."

"Winchesters? Are they married?"

"No. Brothers."

"Oh. Okay, yeah, call them. I'll compensate them for their time."

Clint exited the lab.

_Finally. I can get back to—_

"Sir?" JARVIS inquired, " Ms. Potts thought a well-timed bouquet of flowers might be a good start."

"Good start for what? It's not our anniversary is it?" Tony frowned and checked the date.

_Nope, no anniversary that I can think of._

"For Ms. Vorso, Sir. She likes white gardenias."

Tony grumbled. "Yeah, I suppose that will be fine. Send Ms. Vorso a couple dozen white gardenias. Send her something else too…Doctor Who something or other."

"Ms. Potts thought a t-shirt would be appropriate. She has one picked out already."

"Well…if Ms. POTTS is going to do everything, what's the point of asking me to do it?"

"She thinks you should write her a letter, Sir."

"I don't know how to write."

"Not true. Sir learned how to write 38 years ago."

"I thought I set you to passive mode," Tony snapped as he pulled out a piece of paper and rummaged for a pen in his desk drawer.

"I'm only trying to help, Sir. It's in my programming."

* * *

><p><strong>Bruce<strong>

He opened his eyes into the bright sun, closing them again immediately. He sat up gingerly, trying to take in his surroundings and not blind himself.

He was on the ground outside, that much was certain. It was daylight. Morning. It had been early evening when he was last aware.

The smell invading his nose was strange, but familiar. That could mean anything.

"Dude…you okay, man?"

He frowned, squinting in the direction of the voice. He still couldn't see anything.

"Bad trip, huh?"

As the figure came into focus, he figured out what the smell was. Smelled like a skunk farted into a bag of oregano. It was a man, average height, wearing one of those hand woven Baja hoodies and a pair of jeans. He was barefoot, despite being outside, and his hair was longish and brown.

"I guess you could say that…" Bruce said, shielding his eyes.

"Bruh..." the figure laughed, "I meant I had a bad trip. I thought you were an angry green gorilla man…but you're not. You're just a little guy."

_Great. He's toasted. I guess it could be worse. And I'm not THAT little. Come on… _

"Did I…hurt anyone?" asked Bruce cautiously.

"Hurt anyone? Dude, I dunno. There's no one here but me, Rye and Sunny," the hippie gestured back behind him to the tent that was pitched beside an older model yellow Volkswagen Bug. A woman with long blonde hair crawled out of the tent with a baby, probably no older than a few months, who was bound to the front of her with a wrap.

_Great, they have a baby…I need to leave. I shouldn't be around a baby… _

"Terry, I'll talk to him, okay?" She at least sounded more 'there' than Terry had.

She stood. She was tall, taller than Bruce, at any rate. Probably taller than 'Terry'. The baby cooed.

She inspected him, sitting there on the ground in his 'Hulkrilyic underwear'. He'd found a pair stashed in his bug out bag and had torn the tracking device out of them.

He felt very exposed. He pulled his legs together, folding them up in front of him.

"What are you?" she whispered.

"I don't know anymore," he answered truthfully.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm running."

She nodded as if that were a good enough answer. "I'm Rye, you met Terry. This is Sunny," she gestured to the baby. "Terry broke into the stash already…" she explained. "I can't have any…gets in the breast milk."

Bruce nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Did you want…?" she gestured back to Terry, who was rolling another joint as they spoke.

Bruce shook his head rapidly, "No, no thanks."

"You sure, man? It's a LOT of weed for just me," the spaced out guy insisted. "And you look like you could stand to relax."

"I'm sure I do," Bruce chuckled, "Thank you for offering, though…" he looked around. "Where am I?"

"Bruh, where are ANY of us? You know?" Terry lay back on a rolled up blanket.

Rye sighed, "You're in the middle of the Black Hills, South Dakota."

"South Dakota?" He thought he was in Nebraska. He must have traveled farther than he thought. He had no idea where his car was.

"Did I just…show up here?"

"You fell…from up there…" Terry pointed up, drawing a trajectory over the tree tops.

Bruce frowned slightly and looked at Rye for confirmation.

She nodded, "That hill over there… you jumped or something."

"Was anything chasing me?" he asked quickly, starting to stand.

"No, I think you were just…mad, dude," she shrugged. "Need to keep that in check."

"I know, believe me," Bruce wanted to get up and leave, but he still felt exposed.

"You need clothes or something?" asked Rye.

"I guess I do…" he looked around for any remnants of what he'd been wearing, but there were none.

"You can have something of Terry's. You look like you're the same size," she gently unwrapped the baby and held her out towards Bruce. "Can you hold her while I go look? I'm afraid he'll drop her," she gestured towards Terry.

"Um…sure…" Bruce was unsure if he'd be any safer. He took the squirming baby in his arms, her eyes large and quizzical. She made a little squawking sound. He frowned.

"Talk to her. She likes to talk," Rye encouraged as she disappeared into the tent.

"Umm…Hello," he said.

_I should probably smile. Babies like that. _

He smiled, the action feeling strange. The baby cooed and smiled back, revealing 2 tiny teeth. His nervous smile spread into a grin.

"You're kind of cute, you know that?" The baby wrinkled her nose. "I'll bet you do know that…How old is she?" Bruce called towards the tent.

"8 months. Really cute age."

"Yeah," Bruce agreed.

"You have kids?" asked Terry.

Bruce snorted, "No…no, no, no…"

The question made him sad. He'd like nothing more than to have children. It brought back the memory of Alice's false alarm. The way he'd responded had been less than enthusiastic. To the point where she actually admitted that she was glad she wasn't pregnant. At the time, it hadn't bothered him, but now…now it shook him as he realized exactly how messed up things were between them.

"How about a lady?"

Bruce felt his stomach drop. It must have shown on his face because Terry started backtracking.

"Or a dude? That's cool, you know."

Bruce chuckled dryly, "No, I don't have anybody. All alone…"

"That sucks, dude. Don't know what I'd do without Rye."

"You'd smoke yourself to death, that's what you'd do," said Rye, emerging from the tent with a small pile of clothing. She set them down on the ground beside Bruce. "Are you hungry? What's your name?"

"Um…Bruce..." he said quickly without thinking.

_Shit. Shouldn't have said that. They saw me change. They're going to put it together. _

_ Well…he won't. But she will. _

"Bruce. Solid name. You hungry, Bruce?"

"I really should get going…" he held out the baby. She kicked her legs and grinned at him more.

"Eat something first. It's a long walk back into town."

Bruce frowned, wondering where he was going to get a car now. He was running out of money and he still didn't know where he was going.

He pulled the baby closer and bounced her lightly, which made her giggle. He couldn't NOT smile at a giggling baby.

He put on the clothes they gave him and sat down on the blanket with the baby. Sunny. Her name was Sunny. She actually looked like a little sun sprite or something. She had platinum blonde hair that stuck straight out all over her head. When the sun caught it, she looked almost incandescent.

He envied her innocence. He wondered what it would be like to have a real fresh start. A clean slate like she had.

_Phew…I think I should scoot away from Terry. _

Rye brought him a bowl of something. He didn't really care at this point. All he knew was, it was hot, it was homemade and he was starving. She gave him a piece of zucchini bread.

Zucchini bread. That made him think of Alice.

Actually, he'd done nothing but think of Alice the entire time he'd been awake. It was different though. Instead of being angry with her, he missed her. The dress Rye was wearing reminded him of one Alice had. The zucchini bread that he was eating reminded him of the time Alice had made some and it took him a while to try it because it sounded weird.

This was good, Alice's was better.

He'd definitely done more smiling than he had since he'd left her three months before. He couldn't help but smile at Sunny, who was currently rolling around the blanket.

"She's showing off. Someone who hasn't seen all her tricks," Rye informed him.

Bruce was content to watch her show off. It was amazing how carefree she was. He supposed it shouldn't be all that amazing. She didn't have a care in the world. She had two parents who loved her, even if one was a bit…toasted. She was going to have a good life. A normal life.

He definitely envied that.

"Is there somebody after you?" Rye asked presently, after he'd finished eating and had thanked her profusely.

"I honestly don't know…probably."

"You're gonna need better transportation than your feet."

"I know."

"Take the car," she gestured towards the bright yellow Bug.

"Oh, no, I couldn't…"

"Possessions are only ours on this earth, man. Nothing really belongs to us," said Terry.

_Hippie nonsense, _Bruce thought to himself, shaking his head. "I couldn't take your car."

"We have another one at home, it's only a couple hours away on foot," explained Rye.

"I couldn't make you walk…not with the baby. Let me drive you back there."

Rye squinted, cocking her head to the side. She shook it, "No offense…but that's some serious serial killer-speak."

_Oops. Just drop it._

"Of course…I don't know what I was thinking…"

"Take the car. Do your running. But promise me you'll pay it forward."

"Of course. Of course, I promise you…let me pay you for it," Bruce offered, reaching around to the back of his Hulkrylic shorts and feeling his wallet and wad of cash still there.

"No way, what's ours is yours."

"It's really not…" he said, embarrassed. He wasn't going to let them just GIVE it to him.

"Don't worry about it. Do good things. I can sense that you've done good things. Keep doing good things," said Rye encouragingly.

Bruce stood up and walked over to the car. He peeked in the back. "You want your stuff out of it?"

"Oh yeah…might need that car seat…" Rye laughed. Terry went to pull out the seat and a few other belongings.

Bruce counted out a wad of cash from his wallet. About a thousand dollars, to be exact. He pressed it into Rye's hand. "If you don't take it for yourself, take it for her," he gestured towards Sunny. "Take good care of her. Save it for college, or something."

He wanted to give her more, but he'd need some to get an apartment eventually.

Rye smiled and folded her hand around it. "For Sunny. Thanks, Bruce."

"What's your last name? I'll keep in touch," he asked, intending to send her more money for the car.

"Crews."

"Got it. Thanks again. Take care."

"Same to you," she handed him the keys.

"Which way to the highway?" he asked.

"Take that dirt road there into town. There'll be signs for the highway there."

"Thank you again," he called out the window as he drove away. He watched them get smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror.

He found the town easily enough and stopped for gas. He went in to pay the clerk and overheard the conversation between the two gentlemen in front of him.

"So have you seen any…" the shorter of the two men paused and shook his head in disbelief, "Big Green Gorilla Men around here?"

The clerk's eyes widened. "Big. Green. Gorilla. Men."

The taller man with long hair nodded curtly. "Big Green Gorilla Men."

Seriously, though. He was TALL. His companion wasn't short, but he was compared to this guy.

"Forgive me, but you two need to lay OFF the illegal substances so early in the morning. I'm not ready for nonsense when my coffee maker is busted. Now, is there anything else you need?" The clerk looked exasperatedly between them.

They laid down a crumpled bill on the counter, hanging their heads sheepishly and looking very much like they wanted to disappear.

"Know where I can get some pie?" asked the shorter man suddenly.

"DEAN," hissed the taller one.

"What?" he shrugged, turning around to look at Bruce. "A man needs pie."

Bruce felt his heart jump up into his throat. He knew his eyes were probably too wide and too anxious. He tried to school his features, but he was almost certain they could hear how fast his heart was beating.

_Who are they? Are they with SHIELD? Must be agents. But they obviously don't know who I am. Unless…I've changed so much I'm unrecognizable?_

His hand went up to his chin, feeling the fairly long, scruffy beard that he was currently sporting. His hair probably looked completely wild too. He was surprised no one had mistaken him for an escaped Charles Manson.

He realized the two men and the clerk were all staring at him, so he nodded, "Yeah, man. Totally."

The shorter man, (Dean?) snickered, "Talk about laying off the illegal substances. Catch ya later, Cheech."

The tall one was frowning, studying Bruce's face a little too closely for his comfort, so he slapped down two twenties for the gas and turned to leave abruptly. He walked out to the car quickly and got inside.

He turned on the engine and gunned it, pulling out of the gas station as fast as the little car would take him.

_Calm down. Calm down, Bruce. _

His breathing slowed and his foot eased off the gas pedal until he was going the speed limit.

The last thing he needed was to get pulled over. His fake ID hadn't been obtained yet, so he'd have no way to prove who he was. The last thing he needed was to Hulk out in the back of a cop car.

Once he was back on the highway, he was again alone with his thoughts. A dangerous place to be.

His eyes drifted to the necklace hanging from the rearview mirror. It was a long black cord with a single pendant. A large green eye.

His heart stuttered when he looked at it.

No matter where he went, he couldn't escape her. And being alone with your thoughts was a dangerous thing, especially for him right now.

Sometimes he chastised himself.

He shouldn't have left, he should have confronted her. Should have fought for her. He should have punched Logan in his big stupid face, possibly broken his hand in the process, but at least he'd have tried.

Other times, he was so mad at her, he couldn't form coherent thoughts.

And still others, he blamed Logan, planning his murder in intricate, yet imaginative ways.

He could still smell her sometimes, her floral scent that permeated his soul. He could feel her lips on his, taste her on his tongue. Feel her hands as they carded through his hair, stroking his neck, his back. It was pure torture to think about anything further.

And it always, always ended with the image of Logan's lips crashing down on hers. The last time he'd furthered that train of thought, had ended with him in the woods after he'd probably destroyed acre upon acre of government owned forest. He had to be more careful. He wasn't so great at keeping calm now that Alice wasn't around to siphon from him.

5 times. 5 incidents in 3 months. Unacceptable.

He'd gone soft, gotten lazy with his emotions. He'd been so collected, so much in control… but now…now it was like it was at the beginning. He'd been forced to reteach himself everything. It hadn't taken as long now that he knew what he was doing, but there were still lapses, holes in his armor, so to speak.

And then there was the need, the gripping, painful, excruciating need that begged to be fulfilled. He didn't think he'd ever felt this as lonely as he did right now.

Empty.

Less than empty. He felt like there was a gaping void in his life.

_It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all…_

"What a crock of shit…" he muttered to himself, looking over at the green eye pendant.

"STOP STARING AT ME," he directed towards the eye. It appeared to be judging him. Demanding an explanation.

"I had to leave. If I hadn't, I don't know what I'd have done. Something worse than destroying a national forest, THAT'S for sure…" he glanced back at the hateful, judgmental eye.

"Of COURSE I still love her. I'm no monster. Usually. Of course I still love her…I should have gone back. I should just go back now. Or stop and call her. I could call her; they'd be here in 2 hours."

He sighed, knowing full well he couldn't do that.

"And then I'd have to go back to New York. To be around her. And probably HIM. Have to see them together…I can't…"

He looked at the eye again.

"I mean, it IS possible that she's not with him. Anything's possible, I guess. I don't doubt that she loved me. I just wasn't…wasn't the best boyfriend to her…I wasn't emotionally available…she needs someone who—"

The eye again.

"No, Logan's DEFINITELY not emotionally available either…I mean…I don't know… she's amazing. If anyone could tame that idiot, she could. Banner, you're losing it. You're now talking to a necklace…"

He sighed heavily and took the necklace off the mirror, contemplating just throwing it out the window onto the deserted highway. Instead, he put it around his neck, tucked down under the cotton dashiki he was wearing.

It rested on his heart. Heavy on his heart.

_Perfect._

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>

**So, we found out why there's a bug up Tony's ass. He's not really mad at Alice, I mean...he is, but not as mad as he is at Bruce. But, Bruce isn't there. Alice is. So he's taking it out on her. Somehow, I don't think 2 dozen white gardenias and a Doctor Who t-shirt is going to fix things. I think it's gone past the point that the Doctor can help you, Tony. **

**And Bruce. **

***sigh* **

**Bruce, babe...you're so pitiful. I don't know what else to say. **

**What did you think of the Supernatural cameo? That's really all it is. This won't be a crossover or anything. I just read a thing on tumblr where someone pointed out how much the actor who plays John Winchester looks like Robert Downey Jr. Then some people were saying it was their headcanon that Tony Stark is Dean and Sam's long lost uncle and that's why Dean always has money and Sam always has wifi. *shrugs* The uncle thing didn't work with my story, but I thought that they might know Clint. Clint knows a lot of people. It's possible. Anyway, like I said, not a crossover, not canon at ALL in the Supernatural anything...just me borrowing characters, that's all. ;) **

**The hippies. They are actually based on real people I met while I was in college, believe it or not. :P Loosely. But the 'Bruh' thing, that happened. A lot. And the woman, she used to spin yarn on the way to classes while she was walking. She had a drop spindle and everything. Anyway, they might be coming back. Or, they'll be mentioned again, definitely. I spent too much time on them not to come back. Haha. **

**Anywho, that was what Bruce has been up to. **

**What have I been up to, you ask? Why, that's so sweet of you to inquire! **

**I have been starting up a patreon page. I linked it on my profile. Go there to find out about it and stuffs. *heart* It's also linked on my tumblr, if you follow me there. **

**I want to give a big bad shout out to tumblr user emzorzin4d, for being my first patron! You are AWESOME! Thank you!**

**As always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, but I do own Alice and the hippies. **

**Please review! It gives me life!**

**Follow/Favorite if you feel so inclined!**


	3. Fiction of the Fix

**A/N at the end. :) Song for this chapter is 'Werewolf' by Fiona Apple. Warnings: Language and Angst. **

* * *

><p><strong>Alice<strong>

"Please, Steve?" she pleaded, poking out her lower lip. That had always worked on Bruce, but she wasn't sure if it worked on Steve yet or not.

"Shouldn't you already have those…things?" he asked, shifting on his feet uncomfortably.

"I forgot to buy any at the last drug store run."

He sighed heavily, "Fine, fine. But text me exactly what you want…I don't want to get the wrong…absorbency or anything…"

"Absorbency. Spoken like a man who has bought tampons before. Do you go on tampon runs for Maria?"

He rolled his eyes; at that moment he was no doubt regretting his decision to share his personal life with Alice. "Want anything else?" he asked, changing the subject, "Candy bar? Soda? Anything?"

"Yes," she said abruptly.

He chuckled as he pulled his shoes on. "Which?"

"Dark chocolate. Root Beer. And a cheeseburger."

"I don't think they have cheeseburgers at the drug store…"

"No, but there's a Five Guys in the same strip mall."

"Fine," he acquiesced. "But call and order ahead so I don't have to wait. Order something for me as well. Whatever you're getting."

"Will do, and thanks, Steve."

"Don't mention it. Text me the exact thing you need. Pictures are helpful."

"Noted," she began composing the text before he'd even left the hotel room.

She laid her phone down on the bed beside her and curled up with her pillow.

She heard him close the door behind him.

She sighed heavily.

Today had been a bad day. She missed Bruce. Terribly.

She wanted to say it was just her hormones talking, but she missed him terribly every day. It was just worse now, because she didn't have the strength to push it to the back of her mind. Or the will.

On bad days, she didn't know how she could make it without him.

But still others, she was painfully aware of how things were easier now that she didn't have to worry about Bruce. Those were the days where she was actually happy to be (almost) carefree and single. Those days were worse than the others, because along with the newfound sense of freedom came the crippling guilt for feeling that way.

But to reiterate, today was NOT one of the latter. It was the former and she could positively KILL to have him here with his arms around her.

She rolled so she wasn't facing the wall and leaned over to open the side table drawer. She wasn't sure where they were today, so she searched for the phone book.

_Glenwood Springs, CO. _She read off the cover.

That made 26 states in 3 months. Still only sightings of the Hulk. And they were always too late to see him themselves.

She often wondered why she continued to search. If she found Bruce, there was no inclination that he'd want to come back to her.

She told herself that she still searched because she didn't want him in SHIELD custody. Which was true.

But that wasn't the only reason, unfortunately.

She wanted, no NEEDED, to know one way or the other. She needed closure.

If they could work things out, she definitely wanted to. But if they couldn't, she wanted to know so she could move on.

The thought of moving on scared her. She didn't want to move on. She knew she had found the person she was supposed to be with and she didn't want to start looking in vain for someone else.

She sat up quickly when she realized she hadn't called to order their cheeseburgers. A quick glance at the clock told her that Steve had only been gone for 5 minutes or so.

She called and placed her order, letting her phone drop to the bed afterwards. Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling.

Thinking about moving on made her brain jump to the topic of Logan.

_Oh, God…Logan…_

Every time she thought about him, she felt sick. She was still clueless as to why she had kissed him back.

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

_"Why do YOU think you kissed him back, Alice? Surely you must have some idea." _

_ "I DON'T KNOW, Professor! I don't KNOW why I kissed him back! I wasn't attracted to him before that moment. AT ALL. I wasn't even really attracted to him then either, I just…didn't want to be alone. Does that make sense? It makes me sound like a slut, doesn't it?" _

_ "Alice, we've talked about this. You aren't to talk about yourself in that way during our sessions or EVER, if you can possibly manage," Xavier chastised gently. _

_ "I said 'like a slut'. It's a simile," she kicked her leg off the edge of the couch she had chosen to lay on. _

_ "Alice…" _

_ "I know, I know. I'm not a slut or a whore just because I kissed Logan." _

_ "Correct. It was a healthy expression of emotion." _

_ She sighed. "But it messed everything up." _

_ "That kiss didn't ruin everything. Wouldn't you agree that things were already well and ruined before the kiss happened?" _

_ She nodded grudgingly. _

_ "Right, so you say you aren't attracted to Logan. You say you kissed him because you didn't want to be alone. Would you have let things progress past the kiss if you hadn't come to your senses?" _

_ She shook her head, "No. I wouldn't have done anything more." _

_ "How do you know?"_

_ Her breath caught in her throat, she swallowed it back down again before responding, her voice scratchy and hoarse. _

_ "He wasn't Bruce. I wanted to be with Bruce, but he didn't want to be with me. I didn't want to use Logan, and I didn't want to ruin any shot I had of reconciling things with..." she trailed off. _

_ "So, now that we have these pieces out on the table…can you tell me why you kissed Logan back?" _

_ Tears sprung to her eyes, "No…" _

_ "Are you sure?" _

She sighed heavily. There were many reasons why she'd done it. And in her mind, it didn't matter whether she'd done it out of spite, out of pain, or simply, like she told Dr. Xavier, because she didn't want to be alone. The truth of the matter was that she'd kissed another man. Regardless of whether she and Bruce were together or not, she was in the wrong. It was her fault that he left and she had to make it right.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, intending to refill her hot water bottle. As it turned out, sitting in a car all day wasn't the best thing in the world for cramps. She knew she should go down to the work out room off the lobby of the hotel and have a quick run. She resolved to go after she ate.

As she walked over to the sink, she heard a knock at the door.

Frowning, she set the hot water bottle down in the sink as she slowly crept to the door. She grabbed her purse off the table, reaching inside and wrapping her hand around the handgun she had tucked in there.

She peeked through the peephole.

It looked to be a delivery man. Dressed in the red and gold uniform of Stark Industries. Holding a bouquet of gardenias and a small box.

Alice pulled the gun out of her purse nonetheless, she couldn't be TOO careful. She pulled open the door warily, being mindful of the gun and keeping it out of sight.

"Ms. Vorso?" asked the delivery man.

She nodded, her eyes darting around, looking for something out of the ordinary.

"Package and flowers for you. I'll need you to sign for them..." he held out a Stark Tablet with a stylus for her to sign.

She slid the gun into her waistband, took the tablet from him, and hastily signed her name. He handed her the box and flowers before walking away with a wave. She set them down on the table inside. It was addressed to her, handwritten. Tony's handwriting.

"Oh my God, it's a bomb," she said dramatically to no one. She snickered to herself.

_It makes sense. Tony knows where we're staying. But what is in the box?_

The flowers were pretty. Gardenias. Her favorite.

She opened the small box to reveal a folded up t-shirt. Doctor Who. Daleks with umbrellas. Exterminating in the Rain.

She chuckled, "Cute."

She pulled out the letter that fell out of the shirt.

It was from Tony, pretty much apologizing for the way he'd been acting and blah, blah, blah. Alice dropped both the shirt and the letter back into the box, unsure of what to think.

She sat down at the table to think it over.

* * *

><p><strong>The next morning<strong>

"Where are we going?" asked Alice, throwing her bag and the package into the backseat. She'd just finished laundering her clothes, so they were nice and fresh and ready to soak up the smell of the inside of her bag again.

"First Nebraska, to check out a car and a duffel bag," said Steve, his tone was cautious, as if he was worried about how she'd handle that information.

"A duffel bag?" Her heart sped up considerably. "Is it his?"

"Tony seems to think so."

She felt elated, but she didn't want to get her hopes up, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.

"That reminds me, I need to drop this box off at the post office," she gestured to the box she'd tossed in the back seat.

"Is that Tony's present?" asked Steve warily. "Are you sending it back?"

"Yes," she said shortly.

"Alice…he was trying to apologize…badly, but still…"

She shrugged, pursing her lips.

"What? What did you do?"

"Nothing," she said flippantly.

"Really, what did you do?"

"I will tell you what I DIDN'T do…I definitely didn't mulch all the flowers and correct the grammar on his apology note and stuff all of it back into that tiny box with the shirt."

"Alice…"

"What? He thinks he can buy me. He can't."

"It's all he knows! The fact that he got you something you'd actually like was admirable. He even got you gardenias and you said they were your favorite."

"Pepper probably picked it all out. Or JARVIS. Tony doesn't know anything about me and he doesn't care to know. I know now where I stand with him, and I've never felt better," she insisted.

"Okay…" said Steve, raising an eyebrow.

"Where are we going after Nebraska?" she asked, changing the subject.

"To a hippie commune in South Dakota AND to meet with a pair of hunters."

"Hunters?"

Steve nodded. "Friends of Clint's. They specialize in hunting weird things."

Alice snorted in spite of herself, "The Hulk's about as weird as they come…"

"Well, they think they saw BRUCE…both the hunters AND the hippies."

"BRUCE? Not the Hulk?"

"Yep."

Alice felt so happy she was almost sick.

"So we might find him soon?"

"I'm not sure about that, but we'll have a definitive trail."

She climbed into the front seat of the car, buckling her seat belt and waiting for Steve to get settled.

She started driving.

"So…Hippies?" she asked nonchalantly.

Steve snickered, "Yeah. Tony said they sold Bruce a car. Might give us a trail. If we can find the car."

"How does TONY know all of this?"

"He has people everywhere, you know that."

"Yeah, but…HIPPIES?"

"The hippies aren't his. The hunters talked to the hippies."

"There's a sentence I'll bet you never thought you'd say."

"When you're right, you're right."

They stopped at the Post Office and she quickly mailed off the package to Avengers Tower.

Once they got back on the road, it all started to sink in. There was a trail, finally a real trail and not just leads. It felt like her heart was beating double time. She pressed a little harder on the gas pedal.

"Slow down," Steve said nervously, gripping the handle on the roof of the car. The 'oh-shit-handle' as Alice so lovingly referred to it.

"I'm going…" she glanced down at the speedometer, "7 over."

"That's a—"

"Speed LIMIT, not a speed SUGGESTION. I get it, thanks, DAD."

Steve sighed, "I don't say that all that often…"

"Oh, and don't forget, 'We're not going to get there any faster if we're dead!'," she imitated his voice, poorly.

"Well…we're not…" he grumbled.

"Don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly!"

"I have NEVER said that."

"I know, but it's still a cliché, might wanna add it to your list."

"I'm not THAT bad…I simply would like to get there in one piece."

She rolled her eyes, "Steve…cool it. I want to get to this police station before tomorrow morning. Time is of the essence, my friend. Besides, Hydra couldn't take you down, a plane crash and being FROZEN couldn't take you down, I sincerely doubt that MY DRIVING is the thing that will."

_Am I babbling? It seems like I'm babbling…_

He raised his eyebrows, peering at her sideways. "You okay, Alice? You seem kind of…jumpy."

"Just really excited to…see the hunters."

"Alice, please don't get your hopes up too high. There's no guarantee that we'll find him today."

"Not TODAY, no. But soon."

Steve sighed.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to contain myself. I don't want to be annoying."

"It's not that. I just…hate seeing you get your hopes up only to be disappointed," Steve said sadly.

"Well…is it so bad to get my hopes up? It's all I have."

He was silent after that. Alice turned on the radio and sang along to the songs that came on. Loudly, so as not to invite more awkward conversation. Steve's expression was unreadable, but she still knew what he was thinking. They'd had this conversation PLENTY of times and she didn't really feel like having it again.

"Hungry?" she asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, we skipped breakfast."

"Not to worry, there's a Denny's at the next exit…if that's what you're in the mood for."

"That's fine with me."

They sat down and Steve ordered their food. They always got the same thing to save time.

The server smiled sweetly at them. She was an older woman, which meant she probably thought they were together. Most of the older set just assumed they were. It used to bother Steve, but now he usually just rolled with it. It was easier than trying to explain what they were ACTUALLY doing.

_"No, no…we're not together, no. I'm actually dating a woman in a secret intelligence organization. Alice and I are just friends and we're looking for HER boyfriend. He's a gamma mutate. The Hulk. Maybe you've heard of him. Anyway, he ran off after he broke up with Alice and then caught her kissing another guy. A mutant. Adamantium claws," he punctuated the sentence by miming Logan's claws. _

No, it was definitely easier to roll with it.

Alice pulled up the GPS on her Stark phone, noting that they were about halfway to their destination.

Their server returned with Alice's hot tea and Steve's coffee and orange juice. "I just wanted to tell ya'll how CUTE you are together."

Steve smiled, "Thank you, ma'am."

"I mean really, you look like you're straight out of a movie and you, darlin'," she turned to Alice, "You look like a little wood sprite or something."

Alice grinned, "Thank you, you're too kind."

"Just one thing, though. The girls and I were wondering," she gestured towards the other waitress, who were all staring and then suddenly pretending to be doing something.

"Shoot," said Alice, thinking that they were probably going to ask where they were traveling, or if they were getting married. Or if they WERE married. She smiled and waited patiently.

The server paused for a moment as if she were trying to choose her words carefully. "Does he just CRUSH you during sex? I mean…he's so much BIGGER than you are…"

Alice's jaw dropped and Steve turned a shade of red she wasn't sure existed in nature. She turned to look at him before turning back to the woman.

_The FUCK? This lady's old enough to be my grandmother, why is she asking something like THAT?_

"Uh…well…I'm usually on top," Alice stammered.

"Thought so. That's what I told them."

_I'm glad you and all your forward-thinking friends are imagining Steve and I having sex. Geez…_

"Well…good call," she said, still completely floored by her question.

Steve was fit to be tied, sputtering his protestations. The server left, after taking their order, which they somehow were able to give her, Steve from behind his hand as he shielded his face from view and Alice talking into her lap, unable to look at anyone in the restaurant.

"I can't look anyone in the eyes now, THANK YOU," Steve hissed from behind his hands. He'd brought up the other one after the server took their menus.

"I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY!" Alice whispered loudly. "SHE PUT ME ON THE SPOT!"

"So your default response to that question is to tell them what position we theoretically have…" he whispered the next part, "INTERCOURSE IN?"

"I'm sorry! I—I couldn't think!"

He was about to say something, but instead started laughing. Alice grinned and straightened her posture. Her face still felt hot, though.

The server brought out their food and the rest of the meal went down without incident.

They paid and left the restaurant.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. They arrived at the police station and were ushered back to the evidence room after they showed their SHIELD IDs to the chief.

It was all pretty routine. He talked to Steve across Alice and ignored her completely. Even when she asked questions, the answers were directed to Steve. She didn't really care at this point; she just wanted to see the bag.

"Here it is, no ID or anything, don't know what you guys will be able to make of it," the chief of police slid the duffel across the counter to Steve.

Alice recognized the bag immediately. Of course, it was a rather generic bag, so it might NOT be Bruce's. BUT, she felt her hopes rising. She grabbed the bag and shouldered it. "It's ours, then?"

"Yeah, your boss sent down the paperwork. It's yours to take with you. You sure you don't want the car?"

He was referring to the grey sedan they'd found on top of a barn.

"Is there anything in the car?"

"Nope, just the bag."

"And everything's still inside the bag, you didn't remove anything, did you?" she asked.

"Nah. Once we found out you guys wanted it, we kind of stopped touching it," the chief said in Steve's direction.

Awkward silence ensued, while Alice tried to think of a way to politely excuse herself so she could look through the bag. She lightly tapped Steve's foot with hers, in the hopes that he understood.

"I guess that's all we need, thank you sir," Steve stuck out his hand.

"It's a pleasure, Captain Rogers. Ms. Vorso." The chief shook Steve's hand but only bowed his head towards Alice.

She smiled spuriously at the man.

Once they got to the car, Alice ripped open the bag, shuffling through the clothing. All of it looked familiar. All of it SMELLED familiar.

Her heart was thudding outrageously.

"It's Bruce's?" asked Steve. She almost couldn't hear him over the sound of her own blood flow.

"Yeah, it's his," she fought the urge to bury her face in his laundry.

_Seriously, don't be creepy, Vorso._

She breathed deeply, attempting to calm herself. She zipped the bag up with its contents. She resolved to wash all of it the next chance she got so Bruce would have something to wear when they found him.

She knew that he most likely had bought new clothes by now, but she really wanted to do SOMETHING.

"Onward to South Dakota, then?" asked Steve, bringing her out of her reverie.

"Yep," she said, a bit louder than she'd been expecting, "I bet you're the only person in the history of ever who has uttered that sentence."

He chuckled. "Well, it's my turn to drive, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she replied as she slid into the passenger seat, slipping off her shoes and pulling her hood over her head. She propped her feet up on the dash and stared out the window while Steve drove.

She knew it made Steve nervous when she put her feet on the dash.

_"If I were to have an accident, you'd be snapped in half by the air bag!" _

_ "So don't wreck the car. Pretty standard driving advice." _

He didn't nag her about it anyway. He'd grown used to her quirks, just like she'd gotten used to his. She'd been really uncomfortable around him at first, but he was actually quite easy-going. It might have been a fun trip if they'd been traveling under more pleasant circumstances.

They were quiet for a while, the radio on only barely, to keep the silence from becoming stifling. Alice watched the scenery fly by and the sun grow dimmer.

Steve cleared his throat to break the silence before speaking, "I'm a little offended. Those servers probably think I'm lazy."

Alice pulled her hood back slightly to eye him, "What?"

"About…what those ladies asked you at Denny's."

"Oh!" she chortled, "About me on top? Do you think I should have told them that you mount me like a stallion, Rogers?"

Steve snorted loudly, "Thanks, I have that mental image now…"

She grinned and pulled her hood back down over her eyes.

"Do you want music?" he asked. "I mean, it's on…do you want it louder?"

"Sure, if you're sick of talking to me."

"Yeah, I think I've heard enough of your voice for a lifetime," he teased.

She stuck out her tongue. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Diamond Mills, South Dakota."

"Oh, that sounds magical," she quipped sarcastically, "When are you going to take me somewhere nice, Steven?" Her voice took on a faux whiney tone.

"This place has 'diamond' in the name, what more do you want?"

"How far away is Diamond Mills?" she asked dreamily.

"Destination in…2 hours," JARVIS answered for him.

"Thanks, J-Man," she leaned back in the seat again. "Nice to know Big Brother is listening."

Steve raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to need to stop for gas soon," he stated.

She didn't answer, just laid her head against the window.

Steve pulled up to a gas station, got out to pump the gas and went inside to pay.

He returned momentarily, handing her a soda and a bag of bugles.

"Aww, but you hate these," she waved the bag at him.

"Yes, but they're your favorite. I'll make my peace with them."

Alice had hastily opened the bag and proceeded to stick the bugles on her fingertips. She wiggled her fingers at Steve. "Look, I'm a witch."

He smiled, "Yes. You're very scary."

She grinned broadly and pulled her hood down off her head.

She felt him looking at her. He was smiling.

"What?" she asked, taking a swig of her soda.

"Just got you to come out of your…hood."

She rolled her eyes. "You know food always makes me more sociable. It wasn't anything YOU did, so you can wipe that grin off your face."

He grinned wider.

"Yes, yes. You know me SO well," she acquiesced.

She engaged him in lively conversation until they reached the town. He deserved it after she'd made him sit in silence for nearly two hours.

She was starting to feel nervous. She knew Bruce wasn't still here, but it was hard not to feel something.

It was a really small town. Former mining community, it appeared. Lots of old homes and businesses. Most of it hadn't been updated in a while. There appeared to be one seedy looking motel and a hunting lodge, which was where they were staying. AND where they were meeting the hunters for dinner.

But that was later.

There was a sizable hippie commune on the outskirts, which was where they were headed now.

They drove out to the commune, parking their car with the others. Steve locked the doors and pocketed the keys.

"I think you should do the talking. These are your people," said Steve quietly.

She rolled her eyes, "FINE."

They approached a group of men chopping wood. Alice stepped forward to talk to them.

"Hey guys," she greeted them. Steve nodded a greeting as well.

The men stopped chopping and waved hello.

"I'm looking for someone named Terry Crews? Rye Crews?"

"Terry and Rye? Rye's probably getting ready to serve dinner. I don't know where Terry is."

"Can you point me in the right direction?" she asked.

"Sure…follow that path there, the mess hall is the middle building…" he pointed towards a group of 5 large buildings in the center of the commune.

"Thanks, dude," she smiled and shook his outstretched hand.

"You're a lot nicer than the last guys who came out. Couple of stiffs. They had a pretty sweet ride. Not as nice as yours, though."

She grinned, "Thanks, man. Later."

"Later."

As they walked over to the mess hall, Steve was snickering quietly.

"What?"

"You…you're all 'later, man…'," he poorly impersonated a laid back hippie accent.

"You forget that I was raised by two hippies and pretty much am still one at heart. I just sold out, dude."

Steve laughed.

Alice stuffed her hands into the kangaroo pocket on her hoodie and hurried over to the mess hall. "Why couldn't Bruce wait until summer to go missing? It's freezing out here!"

They entered the mess hall, which was empty, save about a half dozen women bustling around the kitchen.

"We're not ready yet!" called one woman.

"We don't want to eat; we're just looking for Rye Crews?" Alice looked around at all the women.

The galley door swung open momentarily. A tall woman with long blonde hair walked out into the dining room. She wiped her wet hands on the front of her skirt.

"That's me. I'm pretty popular this week," she smirked in an ambiguous way. Alice didn't know whether she was joking or annoyed.

"Alice Vorso, this is Steve Rogers. We're here to ask you some questions…"

"Are you here about Green Man?" Rye asked.

Alice felt her face grow hot. She nodded.

"You his lady?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alice's eyes darted back and forth, "Kinda."

"OH," she said knowingly. "I could kinda tell. You got all…ruffled. You're looking for him then?"

Alice nodded.

"I need to go get my daughter, she'll be hungry. You can walk with me."

They followed Rye to a building two doors down. She disappeared inside and returned with a chubby baby girl, who she tucked into a wrap carrier on her front.

She looked between Steve and Alice, "you don't mind if I feed her, do you?'

Steve frowned at first before shaking his head rapidly, "No, not at all." He averted his eyes, looking up into the treetops.

"Well, I'm not gonna whip it out here…it's freezing," she laughed as she turned towards another of the buildings. "We'll go in here. It's empty and warm."

Alice chuckled as they followed Rye into the building. She waited while the young mother adjusted her top and got comfortable.

"What all do you need to know?" she asked, once the baby was settled.

Steve walked the perimeter of the room.

"Do you know where he was going?" Alice asked, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice, but failing miserably.

"Sorry, I don't. We gave him the car. It wasn't registered to us; I don't even have the registration information."

Alice sighed.

"I'm sorry. He's a good guy. Tried to give me money for the car, but I didn't take it at first. He insisted I keep it for Sunny," she gestured down to her front, "said it was for college," she chuckled.

Alice smiled, "That sounds like him."

"I can tell you miss him. He missed you too. I hope you find each other again," Rye said encouragingly.

"Me too. We…we had a fight, and he left. That was 3 months ago. I…I messed up…" Alice shook her head, she was talking too much. "How was he? Did he look…healthy?"

"Kind of thin. I guess. I don't have anything to compare him to. I fed him. Mother hen that I am. Other than that, he looked fine. All things considered."

"He didn't hurt anyone, did he?"

Rye shook her head, "Not that I can tell."

"Good, that's good. We still have time, then."

They thanked her for her time and said goodbye before walking back to the car.

Alice flopped down in the passenger seat, slumping down in the seat and trying to resist the urge to retreat into her hood again.

They still had to talk to the hunters.

Steve pulled into a parking place near the entrance of the hunting lodge. They got out of their car and went inside.

He inquired with the hostess about getting a table for 4.

The hostess showed them to a semi private table. They could see the front door from where they were sitting and upon Steve's request, she muted the television nearest them.

They ordered their drinks and waited for their dinner companions to arrive.

The restaurant was almost empty. The waitress informed them that the big game hunting season didn't begin until the following week, which explained the lack of customers at this time on a Saturday night.

Alice took off her hoodie. Apparently, the choice seating in this restaurant was also the closest to the fireplace.

She took a sip from her drink as she noticed two men approaching. She nudged Steve with her foot.

They both stood, shaking the hands of the two men. Alice greeted them with a forced smile.

One was extremely tall, taller than Steve even, with longish brown hair. The other, closer to Steve's height, had short hair.

They looked similar, Alice guessed they were related, brothers or cousins.

"Hi, I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother, Dean," said the tall one.

_Brothers._

"Alice Vorso," she smiled in a way she hoped was warm. Sam, the taller of the two shook her hand, but he appeared nervous. He pressed his lips together and while his mouth twitched up at the ends, his eyes looked to the floor. Dean, on the other hand, smiled broadly.

"VERY pleased to meet you, Alice." He winked. For the love of GOD, he winked.

Alice wasn't sure if she was going to laugh or roll her eyes. She chose to sit down while Steve introduced himself. She stared at her napkin, hoping to pass off as disinterested. Or at least rude.

"So, first things first," Sam said after they'd exchanged pleasantries and ordered their food. "The guy. We saw him the day before yesterday at a gas station. It was early morning. He was driving a yellow VW bug, headed west on the highway."

Alice was surprised at his abruptness, but she figured that Tony must be paying them a lot, and by the looks of them, that was what was important.

"Right. I think he knew we might be onto him, though, because he booked it out of there like a bat out of hell," said Dean.

"What makes you say that?" asked Steve.

"When we spoke to him, he looked…spooked. Guilty. Whatever."

"You spoke to him?" asked Alice. She wasn't aware that they'd gotten that close to them. Her impression was that they'd seen him from afar.

"Yeah. He was dressed in hippie clothes. A flowery shirt and everything. His hair and beard were long too. Longer than the picture Clint sent us."

She frowned in disbelief. "Are you SURE it was him?"

"It was him," insisted Sam. "Hair grows. It's been 3 months since you've seen him, right?"

She nodded stiffly.

Sam pulled out a printout map of the area. "If what Mr. Stark says is true and he won't be taking any major interstates or highways, there aren't many stops on that road he took. Considering the gas mileage of that car…he was headed for the only town west from here…" he tapped the town. Mooresville.

"We went there and asked around, sure enough, a dude matching the description of our dude stopped there for gas and shaving razors…and an orange juice. Not sure why that's relevant, but my brother thought it was useful enough to write down." Dean smirked and gestured towards his brother.

"That was yesterday. From there, the highway forks, so he could have gone one of three directions. There ARE traffic cameras in that town, however, so if you have the ability to check those, you MIGHT be able to see what way he went."

Alice visibly deflated. "So…he's gone again?"

Sam shrugged apologetically. "The traffic cams are your best shot."

"At least we have an idea of where he's going," said Steve encouragingly.

He was right. That was something. She smiled and nodded.

"So, now that the business is over…" Dean said, unrolling his silverware. "Captain America and Haven. Wow." He was smiling, but it was tight, like he was trying to hold back laughter.

Alice glanced at Steve for a second before staring curiously between the two hunters.

"Something funny?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, I just…" he shook his head, Sam elbowed him. "No, I was just wondering how long you guys would keep it up."

"Keep what up?" asked Steve.

"This…whole 'we're superheroes' thing…I mean…come on, guys."

Alice frowned. "Don't you guys…hunt… GHOSTS?" she snorted. "Do you drive around in the Mystery Machine, too?"

"Hey," Dean laughed nervously, "We do a LOT more than that, Sweetness. And we don't drive around in a VAN. We drive around in a classic-"

"Dean, you shouldn't…" Sam started.

"Shut it, Sammy, I know what I'm doing."

Steve laughed dryly, his eyes twinkling as he winked at Alice. She felt herself relaxing. "You don't believe us, huh?" He shrugged off his jacket, revealing his veiny, very toned, very muscular arms. He swung his right arm up on the table, palm open. He eyed Dean jovially. "Care for a test?"

"It would be my pleasure…" Dean grinned cockily. He turned towards Alice to flash her another smile.

She rolled her eyes and waited while Dean made a big show of taking of his leather jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his flannel shirt. He really wasn't all that bad looking. She could tell he probably didn't get turned down for dates all that often. He was fairly muscular too. Nothing compared to Steve, though.

It was almost too sad.

"Dean…" Sam hissed, "He's huge!"

"It's all show muscle. Amiright? Not good for anything."

Steve nodded, "Whatever you need to tell yourself, son."

They clasped hands. Steve cocked an eyebrow, shooting a glance towards Alice.

"Winner buys the lady a drink," Dean winked at her again.

_Oh good God…he's really too cute for his own good. Not my type, though. He might be pretty to look at, but I bet there's not much under the hood._

She smirked, turning to Steve, "You know what I like."

He chuckled and adjusted his grip. "I'll let you have a head start. Count of three after we begin."

"Fine, your funeral, buddy. And I'd wager YOU'D like a Tom Collins," he directed towards Alice.

_How the hell does he know that? _

She tried to hold back her laughter as he prepared for his 'win'.

"Alice, will you count us off?" asked Steve.

"Surely," she sat up on her knees and covered their hands with hers. "3…2…1….GO," she released their hands and sat back quickly.

Sam caught her eye, looking worried, so she shot him a look of nonchalance. This was all in good fun. He looked like he understood and a look of bemusement replaced the one of worry.

"1…" Dean was pushing down on Steve's hand, bringing it closer to the tabletop. "2…3."

No sooner had he said three then Steve had pushed his hand back, his knuckles wrapped loudly.

"Shit…" Dean looked up at Steve in bewilderment. "You really ARE Captain America…"

"In the flesh…Tom Collins for you, Alice?"

"Nah, I'd rather have a shot of tequila."

"Tequila?" Dean looked intrigued.

"No, Dean…" Sam warned.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked.

_Famous last words, Winchester._

* * *

><p><strong>An hour later<strong>

"I guess we're getting a room here," said Sam, sighing heavily as he poked Dean's nearly unconscious form in front of him. "Leave it to my brother to try to drink a superhero under the table."

Alice chuckled. "He deserved it. He's too cocky for his own good." She surveyed the array of empty shot glasses littering their table. Dean had kept up with her right until the end. 6 shots each. He was asleep.

"Tell me about it," muttered Sam as he hoisted him up.

"Wha? I'm good to drive, Sammy," slurred Dean.

"Okay, let me just help you out to the car," Sam rolled his eyes and helped him over to the doorway. "It was nice meeting you both. I hope you find him. We'll keep an eye out as well. Take care."

"You too," laughed Alice, watching them go. "What about you, Rogers? Back to our room?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Haha. **

**Last time we'll see the Winchesters for at least a couple of months. I *may* bring them back later in the story, and there will be casual mentions, like...where in the hell did Clint meet them? BUT, for the most part, their brief cameo is over. **

**Captain America on a tampon run. That was just something I really wanted to happen. So, it's there. :P **

**So, kind of a longish chapter. Not a lot happens, but a lot of information is given. If that makes sense. We'll check back in with Bruce and another familiar face in chapter 4 next week. :D I will try to have it early, by Wednesday if possible, since next week is Thanksgiving here in the States and I'm going to be in a turkey induced coma on Thursday and Friday. **

**Hope you guys have a great weekend! **

**As always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, but I do own Alice. **

**Please review! I love hearing from you!**

**Follow/Favorite if you feel so inclined!**


	4. Mourning Over Ghosts

**A/N at the end. :) Song for this chapter is 'Ghosts' by Laura Marling. Warnings include language and angst. Flashbacks and inner thoughts in italics.**

* * *

><p><strong>Bruce<strong>

Bruce opened the blinds halfway to let some light into the room. He blinked, trying to adjust to the brightness. He peeked out onto the street and the field beyond.

Casey, Idaho, unincorporated. Population: so small you could probably count them all in one sitting.

Rather than try to get lost in larger numbers in a big city, he had chosen a small town to hide in.

True, a small town presented its own set of problems: Everyone knew everyone else's name. So if anyone found out he was here, it'd only be a matter of hours before he was discovered.

Also, everyone knew everyone else's business, so a LOT of attention was paid to him when he first arrived. But, there were reasons he'd picked this town over a larger city like say, Boise.

The tech here was decidedly behind the times. There were no cameras on the traffic lights. There weren't even debit card slots on the gas pumps. The internet here was practically non-existent, he was certain that most people still used dial-up.

In short, it was perfect. His visage wouldn't be captured digitally and sent back to SHIELD or Tony.

He folded the shirts he'd just pulled out of the dryer in the laundry room. The laundry room was shared amongst all the 'guests', but there was no one else staying here.

Since he'd found no apartment listings, he was forced to take up residence in a motel that rented rooms by the month. When he thought about it, this was better. He wouldn't have to go sign up for utilities and the motel manager let him pay in cash. The smaller the paper trail, the better. Even if he WAS using an assumed identity.

He'd been in Casey for only a few days before he was able to get hired on as an adjunct biology professor at the local community college. He was taking the place of the previous adjunct professor who had run off to get married a week before the semester started.

He was teaching 2 separate Introduction to Biology courses, including labs. Each with a whopping 25 students in attendance.

He'd taught graduate classes at Culver with more students enrolled than that.

The 'community college' was actually a remote branch of the larger organization. It consisted of 6 classrooms, a front office and a biology lab, all located in a small office building in a strip mall which also housed a cellular phone service kiosk, a hair/nail salon and a restaurant.

The restaurant was called the "Campus Grille". With an 'e'. It was over-priced and mediocre. Or maybe Bruce was just spoiled by New York City. They didn't have any vegetarian options, so he was forced to bring his own lunch to work. Not a huge deal, but it was hard to eat in the way he'd grown accustomed when all he had to cook on was a contraband hot plate and an ancient microwave that he was certain gave off more radiation than he did.

His co-workers were bland and uninteresting. He was the only one there with a doctoral degree. He was fairly certain that some of them had only bachelor's degrees. Most of them weren't even specialized in the classes they were teaching. It was absolute chaos. The English professor taught theater AND humanities, as well as English comp and literature.

They talked about things that didn't interest him in the slightest: Dancing with the Stars, local politics, various fad diets. They weren't academics at all. It was just a day job for them. It was bizarre, but at the same time, it was just as well. His education created the wall he needed to protect himself from accidental notoriety.

His students, he'd found, were predictably unexceptional and only looking for an easy grade to buff their GPA. This didn't bother him in the slightest. He was teaching Intro to Biology, he didn't really expect there to be any future biologists in his classes…so nobody who'd actually NEED any of this information. Half of them looked like they were here only to satisfy the grumblings of a parent who was tired of them hanging around the house and the other half looked to be destined for a career in barely scraping by, if their grades were any indication. Not that he could blame them. This town was a dead end. He'd been in enough places to tell if a place was a pit stop or a black hole. A place to fuel up for the next leg of your journey, or a place that sucked all the life and light out of everything.

Honestly, he was just happy to find work somewhat in his field. He wasn't above manual labor, but there was something mind-numbing about it. And he didn't care that this was a black hole. It was exactly what he was looking for: a place to disappear.

The only person he'd met who was interesting in any way was the motel manager where he lived. Agatha, she'd asked to be called. The name suited her. She looked like an Agatha. Old, weather beaten and tough.

He wasn't sure she'd even told him her last name. He didn't remember it if she had.

**A few weeks before...**

_"Bruce Roberts," he said, looking around the garish motel lobby. It looked like it hadn't been updated since the Cold War. _

_"Roberts…you got an I.D, son?" she wheezed. _

_He nodded, pulling it out and sliding it across the counter._

_He'd just received it a few days before. A complete new identity. It would be good as long as he didn't screw up and Hulk out. _

_ She put on a pair of glasses with lenses so thick, they magnified her eyes a few times over. She squinted at the ID before mumbling to herself and tottering off to the copy machine. She made a copy and handed it back to him._

_She was old. Ancient. Probably close to Steve's age. She had blue hair. He'd heard tales of blue-haired old women, but had never come face to face with one until now. She smelled like cigarettes and Bengay. _

_She'd introduced herself, asking to be called Agatha, because "that's what everyone calls me."_

_She insisted on showing him to the room he'd rented, as if he couldn't figure out where it was on his own._

_When she walked, it was apparent that she was in pain. Her gait was extremely slow. _

_ Alice would say she was slower than molasses in January. _

_ She opened the door to the room. It was just as tacky as the rest of the motel. But it was clean. _

_ "If you see bugs, tell me so I can get the exterminator out here. I hate bugs. I don't want them in my establishment. Do you need me to come in and clean up the room at all?"_

_ "No, no. I can clean it myself." _

_ "Okay, make sure you keep it clean. I don't want bugs," she reiterated, hobbling over to the television set. "That's the TV, you get cable included in your rental fee. No nudey channels, though," she narrowed her eyes at him. _

_ "That's fine. I don't need…anything like that," Bruce felt his face grow hot. _

_ "What are you, gay?" she asked abruptly._

_ "No," he said, surprised at her boldness. _

_ "I ask because…well, you're alone. You're apparently clean, and you don't have use of nudey channels…It's okay if you're gay. I won't judge ya or nothing."_

_ He kept silent. _

_He wondered if she was aware of the existence of gay porn, but decided not to bring it up. The less he popped up on the radar, the better. And becoming known as the "gay professor" in such a small town was NOT the correct way to achieve a low-key presence._

_ "Well, unless you're a slob or whatever," she said dryly. _

_ He stayed silent, nervously scratching his head. _

_ "That was a joke, boy. LAUGH," she commanded. _

_ He chuckled nervously, looking anywhere but at the blue haired old woman._

_ "Do you have a job, boy?" _

_ Boy. He was nearly 40 years old. He guessed that WAS a boy compared to her._

_ "I just got hired as an adjunct professor at Central Idaho Community College."_

_ "Adjunct? What does that mean?" _

_ "Part-time," he answered quietly. _

_ "Well…you must be taking Ms. Carter's place. She ran off to get married." _

_ "I don't know…" _

_ "Biology?" _

_ He nodded. _

_ "Yep. Well, good luck to ya. Those kids are assholes." She tossed him the key and went to the door. "Move your car down here."_

_ "Oh…yes ma'am, I'll do that now." _

_ "Ma'am?" she nodded, impressed. "I like you, Mr. Roberts…" _

_ "Doctor," Bruce corrected her quietly. _

_ "Doctor? Doctor of what?" _

_ "Biochemistry, biology, nuclear physics and physiology." _

_ "Any of that give you the authority to tell me what's wrong with my knee?" _

_ "Well…I'm not really that kind of…" he sighed, resigning himself to at least 15 minutes of listening to Agatha's complaints, "Where does it hurt?"_

**...**

Bruce chuckled at the memory. She certainly IS an interesting individual.

He looked around the motel room. He'd have to go borrow the vacuum from housekeeping soon. It was turning colder and he kept tracking in the leaves that fell off the few trees planted around here. Dirt too. The entire town was full of dirt. He assumed that was from the numerous potato fields situated around the entire establishment. A large number of potato farmers lived here.

He cracked open the blinds to let some light in. He inhaled deeply, smelling the lemon scent of the cleaner he'd used in the bathroom and the smell of the curry he was cooking on the hot plate. It was probably almost done.

He wasn't supposed to have the hot plate, but Agatha had assured him that she'd look the other way if he didn't burn the place down. He had no intention of doing that.

He stirred the curry in the tiny pot on the hot plate, deciding it was done. He pulled a container of cooked rice out of the fridge to serve it with. He didn't have a large assortment of food in here. Rice that he cooked every couple of days, strawberry jam for PBJs and toast. Yogurt. Milk. Eggs.

He probably wasn't eating AS well as he should be, but it worked for his situation now.

He scooped some of the rice into another container and poured the curry on top. It was easier than eating on plates, washing them and putting the leftovers into Tupperware anyway. More efficient, too.

He paused for a moment.

_Wow. I have such a pitiful existence. I don't even eat on plates…_

When he thought about it, he was a painfully boring individual. He looked at himself in the mirror. Very short hair that he buzzed himself with a drug store hair trimmer, a scruffy beard that he really needed to shave, and glasses that he'd broken and glued back together so many times. He ran his hand over his chin.

"I look like a fucking hobo," he said quietly, peering at himself.

_Alice was the most interesting thing about me. _

He ate in relative silence, thinking about that morning and every morning before it when he'd woken up and reached for her, only to feel the cold sheets and crippling loneliness.

He put the leftovers in the mini fridge and went to sit down on the bed. He looked around the room for something to do. He only worked two days a week, so he was on his own the rest of the time. He was running out of things to do. He supposed he could go to the library or something. There was supposedly a rather large one on the main campus, but it was over an hour away. He didn't like to drive if he didn't have to. The car wasn't registered to him and he didn't want to get pulled over.

He sighed loudly and looked over at the small table over by the window where he'd set up his "office". He'd already graded the first tests he'd given his class. They'd regurgitated back the text book rather well, so he had been generous with his grading.

He couldn't go down to get the vacuum until after 5 PM, as per house rules, so he didn't know what else to do.

"Maybe I'll watch 'Dancing with the Stars' so I'll have something to talk to my colleagues about." He chuckled darkly, trailing off as he stared at the carpet. It was rust colored. It had possibly been orange at some point. But now it was close to the color of Alice's hair. Not nearly as pretty though. Not even close. Her hair had dark auburn tones as well as golden highlights.

It smelled heavenly. Her hair, not the carpet. He didn't want to know what the carpet smelled like. She smelled like lavender and a blend of other things that he couldn't place, but he recognized immediately as Alice.

Her hair was soft too. If he closed his eyes, he could feel it between his fingers. It used to catch on his calloused skin. Not enough to pull it, but enough that she would usually pull his hand down and off her head. She'd press kisses to the pads of his fingers before twining them with hers.

"I miss you…" he whispered, the words almost too painful to speak aloud. He swallowed the lump that rose in his throat, coughing a few times and standing up to turn on the TV. If nothing else, it would be background noise.

"Bruce, you idiot!"

He jumped, looking around frantically, but settling his gaze on the TV. A soap opera. Apparently someone named Bruce was being berated by another character. He closed his eyes, feeling his heartbeat return to normal.

_You ARE an idiot. It's the TV. _

He changed the channel.

"She needs you!" a man with a British accent proclaimed.

He frowned. _PBS. Some BBC miniseries. _

"Go home to her!" the man urged.

He changed it again.

_"Baby come back!" _

A music channel.

"_Baby come back, you can blame it all on me…"_

"No…" he groaned, changing it again to the TV guide channel. The music was obnoxious, but at least there was no dialogue. Or lyrics.

He lay back on the bed. He needed to get some rest. Everything was starting to get to him.

* * *

><p><strong>Thomas<strong>

He stared out at Bruce from the TV.

_REALLY? The smooth song styling of Player didn't even help? Jesus, you're dense, Banner. _

He faded into the matrix again. He needed another plan.

He re-materialized in his Memphis apartment. Callie purred and wound herself around his legs.

He pet her absently, sitting down in a chair.

"Okay, Callie, so Bruce is dense as hell and no matter HOW much he wants to go back to Alice, he won't. I tried everything short of pulling him into the TV."

Callie purred and stretched.

"And they HAVE to be together, they just HAVE to. Not that I give two shits about their happiness, but for this whole… THING I've been planning to come together smoothly, they need to be at LEAST on speaking terms and in the same city."

The cat stared up at him, blinking lazily.

"I THOUGHT that it might be a nice gesture for Bruce to come back all on his own, but I don't see that happening. So, I'm either going to have to go speak to Alice and Steve, or those hunters they met."

Callie meowed.

"You're right, of course you're right…" He stood and walked across the room, gesticulating wildly into the air. "If I go to the hunters, they could very well not listen to me. They'd probably think I was a demon or a ghost or something stupid like that."

He paced.

"I could kidnap Alice again, put her in some kind of mortal danger, I guess…but…" he sighed exasperatedly, "That's really becoming old hat now, isn't it?" He put his hands on his hips and shifted his weight on his feet.

"I mean, honestly, the stupid girl needs to learn to watch her back. It'd be ridiculously easy since she's been without a source of gamma energy for 3 months. No, no, no…it lacks a certain finesse…"

Callie hopped up into the chair he'd vacated.

"Plus, if I did that, it would probably send her right over the deep end. She's teetering on the edge of Looney Tunes as it is. We can't have her throwing herself off an overpass or something."

He crossed the room to the window.

"I COULD show up in their hotel room easily enough. But, that oaf of a companion would probably try to obliterate me. He couldn't, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't try. And it would be PRETTY difficult to give her relationship advice while they're trying to kill me..."

"I can't even manipulate her the normal ways, because I'm sure Stark has all their electronics equipped with a fire wall to keep me out. That doesn't rule out the TVs in the hotel rooms they're staying in, but you SAW how that worked on Bruce, and he's a fucking genius. No offense to Alice or anything, but she's not the sharpest tool in the shed."

Callie rolled over onto her back.

"So, that brings me back to the huntards. I wonder how gullible they are…"

* * *

><p><strong>Alice<strong>

She sighed heavily and pulled out her laptop. She actually hadn't used it in a while. There hadn't really been a time.

Now, they had nothing BUT time.

There hadn't been any news of Bruce in a few weeks, so they were camped out in Wyoming, which was where the trail had gone cold. They'd been here for 10 days.

'Here' was Laramie.

It was a decently sized town. Nothing like anything back east, though.

This hotel was nice. VERY nice, in fact. A suite. Like an apartment almost. She and Steve had separate rooms and bathrooms.

She figured it was all part of Tony's 'apology'. He'd been doing a lot of things like this lately. He'd started by sending gifts, but that had stopped when they were either sent back destroyed or simply returned to where they came from. So, he'd switched to things that she couldn't necessarily refuse. The hotel room wasn't even the largest. He'd been padding her bank account. She'd noticed when she went to the ATM. He'd gotten them dinner reservations at some nice places too. But, she still wasn't having any of it. They didn't use the reservations and she'd be giving back the money as soon as she got back to New York. She was still very hurt and she didn't completely understand his explanation, even though he'd tried a couple of times to convince her.

But, the hotel…

It had wifi, which was a big deal out here. And there was a gym downstairs, but she hadn't gone.

Not once.

She'd just holed up in her part of the suite, happy for alone time that didn't only happen when she was in the bathroom. She'd spent the better part of the last week living in her pajamas, watching trashy television and eating junk food. It was glorious.

Not that she didn't enjoy traveling with Steve, that wasn't it at all. She was just really enjoying her time alone.

She would have enjoyed it more if Bruce were with her, though.

She thought back to all the times they'd talked about travelling.

_"Where do you want to go?" he asked, sliding up behind her, pressing his hand into hers while they lay in bed._

_"Anywhere, as long as I'm with you," she grinned. _

_"Nope. Cop out. Cheesy…" he teased, pressing a kiss to her hairline. _

_"I don't know…where do YOU want to go?" _

_"Anywhere…as long as I'm with you…" he whispered dreamily, clearly imitating her. _

_She turned, stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry in his face, giggling and ducking out of the way when he grabbed for her._

"Dammit, Bruce…" she swore, wiping a stray tear as it dripped down her cheek. She inhaled raggedly, trying to calm down.

She booted her laptop. It usually took a minute for it to warm up. While she waited, she steeped a cup of tea.

Her phone rang and she glanced over at it, seeing 'Sam Winchester' light up on the screen.

She leaned over to grab it, succeeding, but spilling the hot tea on her lap. Cursing, she answered the phone.

"Hello?" she asked, agitated.

"Hi…Alice?" Sam's apologetic voice asked, "This is Sam Winchester…is this a bad time?"

"Nope, spilled my tea…what's up? Did you find something? Did you see him again?"

"We didn't see him, no. But, I found something that you might find interesting. I know I'm supposed to go straight to Mr. Stark with findings, but I figured you'd like to know first."

"Okay…?" she answered, expectantly.

"We were directed to a certain web page…" Alice heard Dean's voice grumbling loudly in the background. Sam covered the phone and reprimanded him, "Shut it, Dean!" His voice was muffled. "I'm sending you the link now."

Alice put Sam on speaker phone, so she could open the text with the link. She frowned when the page loaded.

It was for some rinky-dink community college in Idaho.

"Central Idaho Community College?" she asked. "What is this? It's only about…2 hours from where we are now…was there a sighting?"

"No, just…scroll down a little, there's a slide show about midway down the homepage…just wait for it."

She watched the slide show. A picture of a girl dunking a basketball, a picture of some college age kids picking up litter along a dusty highway, another of a guy hitting a baseball…the next picture caught her eye. Her heart leapt into her throat. She jumped up, yelling and screaming for Steve.

"Alice, is it him?" Sam's voice asked, but she was too thrilled to answer.

Steve came bolting into the room, with a shoe, ready to kill whatever bug he thought had made her scream. It would have been funny if she hadn't been so excited to show him what she found.

"LOOK!" she pointed enthusiastically to the webpage.

"What? Central Idaho Community College? Are you going back to school?" He sounded confused.

"No, no, no…" she pointed impatiently.

"You need to use your words. 'Look!' and 'No!' are telling me nothing."

She sputtered in frustration before blurting out the only word on her mind, "BRUCE!"

"Where?" Steve squinted at the screen.

"You have to watch the slide show," said Sam exasperatedly.

Steve turned towards Alice questioningly.

"SAM," she said exasperatedly.

"What?" asked the man in question on the phone.

"No…I just…" she stammered.

"Didn't know who you were. Got it now," Steve said calmly, shooting a worried look towards Alice.

He sat down and looked at the pictures before widening his eyes in surprise, "That IS Bruce!"

She nodded, happy he was finally understanding.

The picture was a random shot someone had taken with their phone in the biology lab. Bruce obviously didn't know it had been taken, let alone put up on the school's homepage.

Or at least, she HOPED he didn't know.

"How did you find it?" Steve directed towards the phone.

"Not really sure…" said Sam uncertainly.

"Who cares?!" she couldn't think about that now, the only thing that was encompassing her thoughts was Bruce. He was in a town called Casey, Idaho. Only two hours away. "We have to go find him!"

"We'll go right away, give Tony a call and let him know."

"I'll just text him the web address…" she muttered.

"Alice…"

"I'm not giving in, Steve. He can't buy my friendship and he needs to realize that he can't treat people like shit just because he's Tony Fucking Stark."

"Umm…if you don't need us, I'll let you guys get to it…" said Sam uncomfortably.

"Thanks, Sam. Tell Dean thanks too," she said impatiently. She ended the call.

Steve pressed his lips together and remained silent.

"That town is 2 and a half hours away. Hour and a half if I drive," she said impatiently. "Let's GO!"

"No. You aren't allowed to drive. They'll be scraping us out of a ditch in a half hour."

"Well…at least drive fast, okay? We know where he is."

"He's not going anywhere. He doesn't know we know."

"How do you know? What if he sees the photo on the website? I can't miss him again, Steve."

"You won't. We'll leave now. Get dressed."

She looked down, embarrassed to see that she was still in her pajamas.

"Quick shower. I'll be ready in 10."

"Okay. I'll meet you in the car."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>

**So, I guess you know what's going to happen in the next chapter...FINALLY.**

**Idk if any of you have ever read 'The Accidental Tourist' by Anne Tyler, (Or watched the movie, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis), but Bruce was channeling the title character of that book in this chapter, Macon Leary. If you haven't watched/read it, his wife leaves him and he kind of gets...weirdly efficient. Anyway, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. :)**

**I know I said no more Winchesters, but what I meant was that they'd be helping in a more...long distance capacity. **

**And Thomas. OMG. What is that weirdo up to? **

**This one's a little bit shorter than the other chapters, but...the next one's going to be LOOONG, so hopefully that makes up for it. **

**I'd like to wish all my American readers a Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you find yourselves surrounded by family and friends and that the drama is minimal. For my readers from other countries, I'd like to extend the same wishes. Because everyone needs family, friends and minimal drama. *hearts***

**As always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, but I do own Alice and Thomas. **

**Please review! I love to read what you think! **

**Follow/Favorite if you feel so inclined, and look for Chapter 5 next Friday. Since it's going to be 10ish days before I update again, why not leave me some prompts in the review or in my inbox? I LOVE prompts and I haven't written any in a while. **


	5. Come On, Collide

**A/N at the end. :) Song for this chapter is "Cassiopeia" by Sara Bareilles. Warnings include: Language and angst.**

* * *

><p><strong>Alice<strong>

The community college where he was working was in the middle of a town that appeared to be in the middle of a dust field.

Steve informed her it was a potato field. Whatever. She didn't really care, she had to see him. She couldn't wait a minute longer.

The alias he was using was Bruce Roberts. They found it in the caption of the picture they'd seen on the website.

She mentally chanted it so she wouldn't forget and call him something else. She was thankful that he'd kept his first name. It was probably easier for him to adjust.

She fought not to break into a full run.

They found out from the lady at the front desk that Dr. Roberts' classroom was at the end of the hall, by the biology lab.

This campus (a generous description) was really small, apparently a smaller remote branch of the community college. It was situated in a strip mall. Alice's university had remote branches as well, but they were nothing like this.

They were informed that he was in class at the moment, but it would be over in about 20 minutes. They were welcome to sit in on the end of the lecture, however.

They walked down the hall, their sneakers squeaking on the linoleum.

"You should go in, sit in the back. Make sure he doesn't leave without seeing you," instructed Steve.

She nodded, letting out a puff of air. She tugged down on the beanie she had worn. It was freezing outside. It was well into November.

_That can't be right…_she thought.

If it was November, that meant that Bruce had been gone 4 months.

_4 months…_

It was almost beyond belief.

All of a sudden, Alice felt nervous. She felt like she could possibly throw up. This was what she'd been working towards and now it was finally happening. She didn't think she could handle it. She thought about going back to the car and letting Steve take care of it.

Then she saw him through the window on the door. He looked smaller, like he hadn't been eating. His clothes were hanging off of him, but he always bought everything big. He'd cut his hair. The curls were gone. He was clean shaven though.

She thought he was just as handsome as ever.

They were so close that she could feel the tendrils of gamma energy wisping around through the door. She didn't tug on them, because she didn't want to freak him out until he saw her

"Go in, sit down. I'll be out in the lobby, okay?" Steve touched her shoulder lightly to emphasize himself.

She nodded again, "Okay."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah…" she stated nervously, her voice wavering. She smoothed the front of her jeans and her hoodie. She tugged her beanie down on her head once more.

She slipped inside the door, going un-noticed until she accidentally kicked one of the tables, which scraped loudly against the floor.

Heads turned to look at her questioningly. Bruce was facing the whiteboard and didn't turn around.

"Sorry…" she mouthed, turning to sit in the chair furthest from the front of the room.

"You're late, whoever you are," Bruce's voice boomed loudly, still facing the white board. "So late, you might as well have not come in."

Alice froze, her vocal chords paralyzed. She was certainly doing an accurate impression of a deer in headlights.

He turned now, surveying the classroom. His eyes settled on her, but she could tell he wasn't really looking, "Mind telling me why you're so late, Ms…?" She felt her cheeks reddening as recognition passed over his face. "Vorso…" he said quietly.

"I—uh—I'm sorry," she said quietly.

He stammered slightly, his voice dropping off and his mouth falling open. It didn't last long, however, he quickly picked back up with the lecture, quietly apologizing for "losing his train of thought."

She felt a rush of gamma energy flow into her suddenly. She gasped and shivered at the familiar cold feeling.

Alice stared at the writing on the desk in front of her for the remainder of the class. She didn't want to risk ruining the rest of the lecture. When it was over, he was cornered by a couple of students. Alice hung back patiently while he talked to them about a grade dispute.

He gave in to the dispute rather quickly, she sensed that he didn't want to or possibly couldn't argue with them extensively.

When they finally left, she could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves. She had to increase her siphon twice before they'd even spoken to each other.

He refused to look at her, staring instead at the notebook on his desk, tapping his fingers impatiently.

"What?" he asked, his tone clipped and formal. He looked up at her, his face unreadable.

More tears sprang to her eyes. "Hi," she squeaked.

_Brilliant, Alice. Just brilliant._

He pursed his lips and looked down, taking off his glasses.

He snickered quietly. It came out more like a small exhale, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards into a smirk. He shook his head. "How in the hell did you find me?"

The tears threatened to spill over, one did, dripping down her cheek. "I don't know. Luck. Pure chance. It doesn't matter. What MATTERS is that you come home. Now."

"I don't have a home."

"You do, though," she insisted. "Tony and—"

"Not Tony…YOU!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking. "YOU were my home."

"You're the one who left ME."

"You're the one who moved on to someone else," he said quietly.

She shook her head. "There is no one else."

"You know I saw."

"You don't know what you saw."

"I have a pretty good idea."

"Let me explain. So you have the right idea."

"Sure. Go ahead. Explain why you were kissing…HIM. Because that's what I saw, Alice. YOU kissing HIM. Not him kissing you. YOU KISSING HIM. Your arms around him…your hands…" he gestured before breaking off, slamming his hands down on the desk. The sound echoed around the room, making her jump.

She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She was still shaky and out of practice with the siphon, so she was having trouble keeping up. She felt her chin quivering. He was putting off a LOT of gamma right now. "Bruce, I never…"

"Never what?"

"I don't know why I did it."

"I can think of a few reasons," he huffed exasperatedly and began to scoop up his papers.

She fought back tears, her nostrils flaring. "Bruce…you…YOU LEFT ME. I needed you and you left me."

"I just told you why I left."

"NO. You left me LONG before you left New York."

He faltered, looking down at his feet.

"That doesn't give you clearance to just…" he addressed the floor.

"I KNOW," she exclaimed. "I know. I'm not attracted to Logan. I never was. I just…needed something I wasn't getting."

He blinked. She could tell she had hurt him.

"Well, I guess you knew exactly where to go for it."

She couldn't help it, he wasn't listening. She felt her hand connect with the side of his face.

She instantly regretted it. Her hands came up to cover her mouth.

It had surprised him as well, it appeared. He froze with his head turned to the side. He brought his hand up to his cheek.

"Wow. I guess I still have it after all," he quipped dryly, continuing to gather his things.

"Bruce, I'm SO SORRY…"

"Alice, I'm done with my classes for today, I'd like to go home to rest. If there's nothing else you'd like to say, if you don't need to slap me again, I'm going to have to cut this short."

"Bruce, please…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have lost my temper."

He laughed without humor. "It's ironic that you are apologizing for YOUR temper."

"You have to come back with me, Bruce. You're going to get in trouble. If SHIELD catches you, they'll put you in prison. In a cage. I don't want that to happen."

"They won't catch me if you don't tell them where I am."

"Please, Bruce, please…" the tears were running freely down her cheeks now. She sobbed loudly, "Please come back with me, please." She was aware that she was begging, but she didn't care. She'd get down on her knees and attach herself to his leg if it meant he'd come back.

He shook his head. "I can't, Alice."

"Please…if not for me, then for Tony. You owe it to Tony to come back."

"I don't owe anyone anything," he said coldly.

"That's bullshit and you know it. You owe Tony a lot. Come back with me. Keep him out of trouble. He's kept you out of trouble."

"I'm not going to ask politely again, Alice. Leave. NOW."

"Bruce, just STOP THIS."

He sighed, "Alice, if you're THAT lonely, I'm sure any of the other male Avengers would be happy to take a turn. Ask Clint, unless you've already done that."

He said something else, but Alice didn't hear him. She turned and left the room, the sound of her blood rushing through her ears was deafening.

She didn't know how she got outside, but suddenly, she was. Steve was following her. She stumbled towards the car, sitting down jarringly in the passenger seat.

"What happened? Is Bruce coming with us?"

She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"What happened, Alice?" Steve asked.

She let out a shuddering sob. "Let's just GO, Steve."

"What did he say to you?" he asked, his tone suddenly serious.

She shook her head, not wanting to relive it.

"I'll be right back," Steve handed her the keys and turned, walking back towards the building.

Alice curled up, covering her head. She sobbed loudly, her breath coming out in sputters and gasps. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

* * *

><p><strong>Bruce<strong>

Bruce found it surprisingly easy to calm down. He figured that was because Alice had the siphon on him.

Of all the things he was expecting today, he wasn't expecting to see her. The ache in the pit of his stomach was sharper now.

_You fucking moron. Why did you do that? Why did you say that to her? All you've been wanting, been wishing, been HOPING FOR throws itself into your lap and you dumped it back on the floor. What the FUCK is wrong with you?_

His head hurt. His heart hurt. His stomach hurt. He hadn't thrown up in years, but he felt like he could now. He tried to will his body, his legs to work, to run after her. He couldn't though.

_Why can't you EVER chase after HER? You're a blithering mess without her. Get off your high horse and stop acting like you're better than she is. You know damn well she loves you. She's here. She found you. Get up and go after her. FIND HER for once. _

He stood and picked up his bag, intending to go find her. Apologize.

His stomach hurt when he thought of her begging, pleading for him to come back and all he could do was cast insults. Horrible insults.

_Oh... the things I said… _

He heard footsteps approaching. He turned to see Steve striding towards him with purpose. The look on his face was one he reserved for people who were about to get their face caved in by his shield. What flawless scheduling.

. "Are you here to deliver the world's most perfectly timed 'I told you so'?" asked Bruce.

Steve frowned, faltering slightly. "No…I'm here with Alice…"

"You're WITH Alice? Just you?" he bristled, gripping the strap on his bag tightly.

_Funny, she didn't mention that she was traveling with Steve. _

"Was I supposed to just let her go look for you alone? Alone and defenseless? Because unless some criminal demands a drinking contest, she has no way to defend herself."

Bruce felt his blood run cold. He honestly hadn't thought about that. If anything had happened to her…if anyone had tried…He shook his head to clear it. Those thoughts wouldn't help anyone right now.

"I just figured…Tony would have come with her…"

He actually hadn't thought about it at all. The only thing he could think about was the reason he'd left.

"Well, no. Because of what YOU did, they aren't speaking to one another."

"What?"

"Look, Dr. Banner, I'm not here to play catch up with you. I'm here to tell you to stay away from her."

Bruce felt his temper flaring. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm Alice's friend and I've watched you hurt her repeatedly. I'm telling you NOW that it ends here."

"Her FRIEND. I'm sure that's what you are…" Bruce sneered.

"Banner. If you can look at that woman, talk to that woman and not KNOW that she is madly in love with you, then…" he shook his head. "All your degrees mean nothing. You're an idiot."

Bruce barely heard him. His mind was racing with images. So many images. Jealousy was an ugly thing. It should never be allowed to run unchecked. Especially in his case. "You've been traveling with her…did you share a hotel room too?"

"I am NOT involved with Alice in that way. I am in a relationship with someone and it's not Alice."

"Right. I probably wouldn't want that mongrel's sloppy seconds either."

Steve's face twitched, he slammed his fist into the top of the desk, splintering the wood. "You don't deserve to be with her. If you can talk about her like that…she's better off without you." He straightened, his eyes heated and angry. He turned and stalked out of the room.

Bruce stared at the desk, wondering how he was going to explain that one. Honestly, he was lucky that the splintered desk wasn't his face.

His mind felt empty. Without the Other Guy constantly grumbling, he felt so alone.

Dejected, he shouldered his bag and left the room. It was clear he wasn't going to talk to Alice tonight. It was clear that he shouldn't try, anyway. What if more poison spewed forth from the deep, jealous recesses of his mind?

He suddenly felt exhausted. All his movements felt robotic. Forced.

He went outside to his car, the one he'd gotten from Rye and Terry.

He drove back to the motel.

He ate. Cereal. With water, though. He'd let the milk expire and he didn't feel like going out for more.

He collapsed on the bed.

The severity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks.

_Why the FUCK did I DO THAT? _

He mentally berated himself as his head began to pound. He rolled into a ball, clutching a pillow to his stomach. Tears dripped unbidden from his eyes and onto the comforter.

_She is better off without me. I'm just a fucking monster. Other Guy or no. _

He didn't know how long he'd been there. His back was starting to ache.

He heard a knock at the door. He frowned.

He looked through the peephole, seeing none other than Tony Stark standing outside.

_Tony. What the hell…I thought he wasn't traveling with them…_

"Go away, Tony," he warned, his voice sounded hoarse. Like he'd been crying. Had he? He couldn't remember.

"I am going to count to three. There will not be a four."

"Tony—"

"If I GET to three and this door isn't open, there will not be a door either."

"Tony—"

"One…"

"GO AWAY."

"TWO…"

_Good grief. He's serious._

Bruce sighed heavily and opened the door, not wanting to have to pay for a door on top of everything else.

"Two and a HAAAALF…Oh, you opened it," Tony strolled into the room, looking around. "Oh wow, this is nice. I can see why you left New York."

"What do you want?" Bruce asked, realizing just how fucking tired he was.

"I mean, honestly…the décor is just…who am I kidding? This is shit," he turned around to face him, "For starters, I'd like you to remove your own head from your asshole. Be careful, though. Don't hurt yourself, considering how bloated your head has become, this could be quite painful."

"Okay…if you're just going to do this, you can go…" Bruce gestured towards the still open door.

"I'm sorry…" Tony tilted his head to the side, "Were you expecting a WARMER welcome? Did my greeting fail to give you the warm fuzzies? Poor. Baby."

His sarcasm was so thick you could probably spread it on toast.

"I'm having a TERRIBLE day. I'm really not in the mood for this right now."

"Oh, YOU'RE having a bad day? I had to fly from New York to…where the fuck are we?"

"Idaho…" Bruce provided.

"Ida—really? Idaho. That's where…Idaho," he nodded his head in mock wonder.

"Tony—"

"I had to fly from New York to Idaho IN MY SUIT, which is NOT flight ready. And has no bathroom…which reminds me, may I use your sure-to-be-lovely-and-spacious facilities?"

"Yeah…they're…" Bruce gestured over towards the bathroom, trailing off. He knew where the fuck the bathroom was. He'd been in a million hotel rooms, probably.

While Tony was gone, he looked around the room.

_I could leave right now. _

"Don't even THINK about leaving, or I'm getting the Hulkbuster suit," Tony's voice echoed from the partially closed bathroom door.

_It's sort of weird how comfortable Tony is around me. I don't think Alice even left the door open when she was in the bathroom… _

"We both know it's not ready," he shot back.

"SHUT UP, you don't know. You've been GONE for 4 months. A THIRD OF A YEAR."

"IS it ready?" Bruce asked, knowing the answer and mouthing it along with Tony when he said it.

"No…" The toilet flushed and the water ran in the sink. He emerged from the bathroom. "It could have been. If you'd been HELPING me."

Bruce sighed again and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Alright, let's get this over with." He braced himself for a dressing down of epic proportions.

"You're a dumb ass."

He waited.

_ Is he done?_

"Okay…are we good? Is that all?" asked Bruce cautiously.

Tony frowned, open-mouthed and shaking his head, "NO, WE'RE NOT GOOD! You ruined EVERYTHING! It was all going along just fine and then…you RUINED IT!"

_Oh, there it is._

"I didn't ruin anything. She ruined it when she kissed...HIM!" he gestured madly. He couldn't even bear to THINK about Logan, let alone speak his name aloud.

"Right…things were PRETTY bad before HIM happened. HIM didn't make you…" he mimicked Bruce's gesture, "RUN across the country!"

"No…that was—"

"I swear to GOD, if you say Alice—"

"I don't believe in God…" Bruce corrected him.

"THAT. RIGHT THERE. Do you know how FUCKING annoying that is?"

"I DON'T believe in God, though."

"I KNOW THAT. Not the point. The point is that you're fucking annoying. With your constant corrections and that thing you do with your face…THERE!" he pointed at him, "That's your 'I'm-not-really-listening-I'm-thinking-up-a-rebuttal' face."

Bruce realized he was pursing his lips and squinting. "Well…"

"Do NOT say 'actually'," Tony commanded.

_Actually…_

"TRUTHFULLY, I do need to work on that."

"Okay, 'truthfully', is just an actually-ninja."

Bruce frowned in mock confusion.

Tony reiterated, "What I meant was, 'truthfully' is just a synonym for 'actually'."

"Why didn't you just say that?"

"Because…you KNOW what I meant and you're just being an ass."

"I am. I admit it."

"MOVING ON… I'm sure Alice responded to Logan…sorry, HIM, because he probably said something like, 'Good Job,' and I'm sure that's the first time she'd heard that since she lived with her grandparents."

"I disagree. I was VERY supportive of her!"

"Very supportive. Right. When's the last time you were supportive of something she was doing that wasn't directly related to her abilities? Directly related to YOU?"

Bruce faltered, unable to respond.

"And let's not forget that your response to her suicide attempt was to get mad at her for not telling YOU about it and then breaking up with her."

"That's not how it was at all!"

"It wasn't? Tell me how it was, then."

He bit his lip…unable to say anything that would dig him out of the hole he was in.

Tony looked at him sympathetically. "Honestly, I'm thinking that the only reason she was with you, was because you are a million times better than her only other foray into romance: good old Zeke. Unfortunately, One million times zero is still zero."

"HEY…" Bruce felt his heart rate increasing. "I wasn't the only one in the wrong. There were TWO of us in that relationship."

"Yes, she did. And I'm sure you two will have a LOT to talk about…and cry about…and fuck about later. But for NOW, one of you needs to make a gesture. Since she already came to you begging and you practically spit in her face…I think the ball's in your court, big guy."

"I can't, Tony. Not after what I said to her, what I accused her of…Steve's right. I don't deserve to be with her."

"No, you don't. Just like I don't deserve to be with Pepper. You can fix it."

"I don't see how."

Bruce didn't know when they got in his car, or when they'd decided to leave, but soon, they were driving down the interstate towards Laramie, Wyoming, which was where Tony said Alice and Steve were staying.

He'd left everything in the hotel room and Tony had settled his bill.

He vaguely wondered what his biology classes would do without him, but quickly realized that he didn't care. The only thing he cared about was Alice.

He tried not to think about what he'd done. What he'd said. Because if he thought about it too much, he'd throw up.

They arrived at the hotel. A nice-ish business-y sort of place. The kind of place that you stayed for an extended length of time.

He parked the car, getting out and following Tony inside and into the elevator. They arrived outside one of the suites on the top floor.

Tony knocked.

They waited.

Steve opened the door. He narrowed his eyes at Bruce, folding his arms.

"I don't know if you should be here."

"He's here to apologize," Tony explained.

The super soldier somehow got taller. He set his jaw, glaring directly at Bruce.

"I don't know if YOU should be here," he repeated, raising an eyebrow and setting his jaw.

"If you'd LET me talk to her sooner, I could have fixed this."

"Debatable," muttered Tony.

"I think you've hurt her enough for one day," Steve hissed.

"I'm not going to hurt her again, let me talk to her!"

"I think maybe everyone needs to ask HER before you go making decisions for HER," Alice said quietly from a doorway inside the suite.

Steve turned red as he quickly ushered both of the other men into the suite.

"Thanks, Steve. If I ever need a watchdog, I know who to call," she said bluntly. "Bruce, I'll speak with you in the other room…" her eyes passed over Tony as if he weren't there and she disappeared into the doorway she had been standing in.

"Ouch…" Tony whistled softly. "That kind of hurt."

"What?" asked Steve.

"She's pissed at all three of us, but she utterly ignored me. Didn't even deign to say hello or anything."

"Can you blame her?" asked Steve.

"I am practically a child. She should have known how I'd react."

"Could you just…?" Bruce felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

"Go in there," Tony pushed him towards the door.

Bruce stumbled towards the door Alice had gone through. She had the lamp on beside the bed, where she was sitting, her arms wrapped around her waist. She was leaning forward, her knees bouncing.

He closed the door behind him.

She still had on the beanie from earlier. He wondered absently how she was able to fit all her hair inside.

He wanted to hold her. To cross the room and wrap his arms around her.

She looked up at him, scowling. Her face was blotchy, her make-up smeared. Her eyes looked angry, red and swollen. She sniffed and stood, walking over to him.

She opened her mouth as if to say something. She closed it again, turning away from him. She took several deep breaths and turned towards him again. She looked angry, conflicted.

She exhaled suddenly and slapped him. Again. For the second time that day.

It surprised the hell out of him. His face stung. He brought his hand up to his cheek.

"I deserve that," he said, trying to meet her eyes.

She blinked as tears rolled down her cheeks. She pressed her fists into her eyes and sat on the bed again. She ground her fists against her eyes in a way that looked extremely painful.

She wailed and stomped her feet against the ground in anguish.

"Alice…" he took a step towards her, feeling terrible.

"What did I do?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"What?" Bruce asked, confused.

_Just now? You slapped me. But, I kind of deserved it._

"What is wrong with me?" she reworded.

"Nothing, Alice. Nothing."

"But, there is. I'm flawed in some irrevocable way. I can't make relationships work. I tried so fucking HARD, BRUCE," she cried, dropping her hands and glaring at him. "I tried so hard to be what you wanted and it didn't matter. You didn't trust me. You DON'T trust me. It's only a matter of time before I do something else. I just…I can't do this," she breathed rapidly trying to calm herself, but it sounded like she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Bruce sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Not for comfort, but to steady her. "Calm down, please, Alice. Please calm down…" He pressed his face into her neck and she let him hold her. She was still shaking with anger, but he sensed that like him, she needed the contact.

Once her breathing had stabilized, she pushed him away, standing up and walking towards the other side of the room. She ripped the beanie off her head. He was surprised to see that she'd cut her hair. Short. Really short. It looked…cute. He sensed now was not the time to compliment her hair style, however.

"Alice…"

"NO!" she exclaimed, her voice shrill and manic. "NO. I am talking. You are LISTENING."

He nodded, "Okay…okay…"

"And DON'T use your 'calm' voice with me. I am pissed at you and your stupid 'calm' voice is NOT going to work this time. So DON'T USE IT!"

"Okay," he said, trying to sound level.

"STOP talking!" she pointed at him, her hand shaking.

"Stop…saying things that require me to provide an answer…"

She chuckled darkly, "Right, because I'M being irrational? I'M the fucking irrational one. Right, right…because you, YOU ARE RATIONAL. YOU, who ran the FUCK away when things got complicated. Ran across the fucking COUNTRY. Yeah, that's totally something a RATIONAL person does."

Bruce fought back a retort. He deserved this. She was absolutely right. He pursed his lips in frustration, but said nothing.

"And then, once we tracked your sorry ass down, you were so HATEFUL, so fucking AWFUL…that I wonder if you could possibly be the same man I fell in love with…" her voice dropped in volume as she trailed off. "How someone who used to look at me with so much love that it made me cry, could now look at me with such contempt that I just wanted to fall off the face of the earth."

Bruce felt his chin quivering. "I-I never stopped loving you, Alice. Never. I miss you. Desperately."

"Desperately," she nodded. " Everything was always desperate with you. You love me desperately, you want me desperately, you miss me desperately. Maybe your love was desperate. I think it was. I think you were desperately TRYING to love me. Because of 'everything I did for you', you were DESPERATELY trying to make it work. But, I wasn't ever enough. I never did or said the right things. You had to try SO HARD. I wasn't smart enough to keep up with you, I wasn't good enough. For you," she spat.

Bruce felt anger rising within him.

"HOW DARE YOU?" he exploded.

She widened her eyes, blinking.

"I LOVE YOU, Alice. You accuse me of not trusting you, of not really loving you? Why don't you turn that perceptive eye back on yourself? I wasn't everything wrong with our relationship. The majority of WRONG rests with me, but you did a fair share of fuck-ups too. You say I didn't trust you? NO. I didn't. I tried. As hard as I could, I tried. And it wasn't your fault that I didn't. I am FUCKED UP, Alice. FUCKED TO HELL. That's no excuse, but that's how it is. But you…YOU…didn't trust me either. No matter how much I told you that you're the ONLY woman I have ever loved, the only woman I want, the ONLY woman I ever want to be with EVER AGAIN, you COULD NOT accept that. When Betty came around, you automatically thought that I wanted to be with her. You wouldn't believe me that I could never love anyone else but you," he dropped to his knees in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "That you, just you are enough for me. BETTER than I deserve. YOU are my reason to live, Alice," he gripped her tighter.

Her body shook as she cried silently. She covered her face with her hands. "Why did you do it, then? Why did you…end things when I needed you?"

He buried his face in her stomach. "I was angry, I was hurt…"

She pushed him back. "Well, do you THINK you got your revenge, Bruce?"

"I didn't want revenge, I was going to apologize, I was…but…"

"But then I kissed Logan. Then I whored it up and that's the story of how this is my fault and you get absolved of everything."

"I didn't…SAY THAT," he stood.

"Don't YELL at me…" she pointed up at him, her bottom lip trembling.

Bruce sighed, "I'm sorry…I wasn't…I wasn't yelling at you."

"It sounded like it."

"No, I'm just… frustrated…and you didn't…'whore' it up. I—don't like talking about that…but…" he gulped, feeling a lump rising in his throat. "I understand that you weren't doing it to hurt me…I don't understand why you did it, but I am willing to listen to you…I know I am not the best at that…but I want to understand."

She took a ragged breath, turning away from him. "Bruce, I—I don't know why I did it either. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for Logan, I'm sorry for not confiding in you, I'm sorry for slapping you…twice. Regardless of what you say, you didn't deserve that. I just…I don't recognize myself anymore."

He reached for her, desperate…no…not desperate, but longing for her touch.

He closed his hand around hers, lacing their fingers. She squeezed his hand in response.

"I still love you so much that it hurts," she whispered.

"I spent every day we were apart in absolute misery," Bruce confessed.

"You aren't in misery right now?" she asked, chuckling darkly.

"A different misery. I'm worried I'm losing you."

She sighed and moved forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt so warm. "You're not. You should be, but you're not. I still love you. You big idiot."

He felt a rush of what could only be described as relief flow over him. He felt tears sliding down his cheeks into her hair. He didn't care one bit. He exhaled loudly, which sounded suspiciously like a sob.

"Alice…" he pulled back from her and looked down at her blotchy, swollen, beautiful face. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She returned the kiss, moving her lips against his until his breathing stopped altogether. He lost himself in her scent, in the feel of her tears mixing with his. In the moan that escaped her lips when he kissed her neck, when his hands slid up from her waist…

Suddenly, she was gone. She pushed him back away from her, shaking her head.

"You can't just…kiss me and make everything better…" she said angrily. "We still have SO MANY issues to work through. We have to do this right, Bruce. We can't just fall into bed together and expect everything to be fixed. It won't be. Sex complicates things and we're already complicated enough."

He exhaled slowly, nodding. She was right, of course she was right. "I'm sorry, I just have no self-control…"

"Try," she said pleadingly. "Please."

"I will. I promise…"

"Good…thank you."

He slipped his arms around her, one around her waist, one sliding up her back. He tugged her close, flush up against him. Where she belonged.

"I love you, Alice," he whispered, still not completely convinced this wasn't some wonderful dream that he'd wake up from, cold and alone.

"I love you, Bruce."

"You cut your hair," she said, rubbing her hand through what was left of his hair. It had grown out some, but it was still really short.

"So did you."

"I needed a change."

"I like it."

The corners of her mouth switched. "I'm not sure if I like it, but it's hair. It'll grow back. It served its purpose. I needed something with easier upkeep."

"You're beautiful," he breathed, nuzzling the top of her head before inhaling deeply.

"I'm glad you think so…" she tightened her arms around him before releasing him. "Well, I guess you should go…"

"What?" he frowned, confused. He had thought they were okay.

"You should go…you shouldn't stay in here."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because, Bruce…we still have a lot of crap to wade through. We can't just pick up where we left off…"

"I thought that's why we aren't going to have sex."

"It is. But, I don't think we should share a bed either."

"That's bull. I don't want to sleep alone, I won't sleep at all, knowing you're in here by yourself."

"Bruce…I need…space…and time. I don't think I'm ready to cohabitate again."

"Yet," he added.

"Yet," she agreed.

He pursed his lips, sighing exasperatedly.

"So…what about when we get back to New York? Am I riding the couch? I don't mind letting you have the bed."

"No…I was thinking I should stay with Darcy."

"You're moving out?!" he exclaimed.

"We'll talk about it later."

"No, we'll talk about it now."

"Bruce…we moved in together too quickly."

He crossed his arms defensively. Did she think their entire relationship was a mistake?

"I don't know anything about you," she continued.

"WHAT? You know more about me than ANYONE!" he protested.

"I don't know anything about your childhood. Where you grew up? I had to find that out from a file. People in love, people who want to spend their lives together, they TELL EACH OTHER THINGS."

"I grew up in Dayton Ohio. I lived there until my father murdered my mother, and then we moved, "he snapped.

"Bruce…I'm just saying. I love you. I want to know all about you. I want to know everything. I crave information about you. All I know about you is what I could dredge up from records."

"Well…I don't know anything about you either."

"You know decidedly more than I know about you."

He sighed, feeling dejected. "I can't help but feel like this is a rejection."

She pressed her lips together in a thin line. "Funny, that's how I felt when you broke up with me. And when you left New York. AND earlier today."

He chuckled, "How many times is THAT getting thrown back in my face?"

"Bruce. I am broken. I. Am. Broken. I don't even know how to convey to you how fucking screwed up I am. I'm not saying that I'm innocent here, because I'm not. But…" she exhaled slowly. "I'm sorry you feel rejected. I really am."

He nodded, "I know you aren't rejecting me. And I'm sorry…about earlier…about New York…about all of it."

"I know," she smiled sadly. "I'm sorry too."

Bruce started to go, but turned back, "Can I have a kiss good night?"

"No," she shook her head. "I shouldn't have given you the other one."

"You aren't even going to KISS me now?"

"No, Bruce. We need to figure this out first."

"So we can't show affection? Alice, I can't go back to nothing. I can't do that. I need SOMETHING."

She looked down, folding her arms in front of her. "If you needed something, you shouldn't have left me."

He exhaled loudly, determined not to get mad.

She winced.

He realized the gamma siphon must have been a bit much. "Sorry about that…" he took a few cleansing breaths to calm himself.

"It's okay, I'm just not used to it."

"I forgot how much it sucks to not be able to hide anything from you."

She chuckled, her eyes twinkling. He'd forgotten how amazing it was to make her laugh.

He left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Phew. Oh. My. Gosh. I was so ready for this chapter!**

**All's not well, but at least they're together, right? **

**I hope I spread the blame somewhat evenly. I mean, Alice knows she's not perfect, but I think she also knows she deserves better than what Bruce has been giving her. **

**Bruce knows that he shares the blame, but it seems like he has a hard time admitting when he's wrong. Hmmm. Imagine that. The doctor has an answer for everything. I'm sure that's not going to get him in trouble at all. **

**Alice at least is keeping her head on her shoulders and not letting it explode from hormones and kissy face. I wish I could say the same for Bruce. Poor guy, he's been without for over 4 months. Which, I guess, so has Alice. AND he was without for 8 years before that, so he really needs to pull it together.**

**As always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, but I DO own Alice. **

**I'm excited to hear what your thoughts are on this chapter, please review!**

**I'm working on a prompt I received on Tumblr: 'What does Thomas do in his spare time?' Should be interesting to say the least. ;)**

**I hope everyone had a great weekend!**

**Follow/Favorite if you feel so inclined!**


	6. Your Faith For Living

**A/N at the end. Song for this chapter is "Silhouettes" by Colony House. Warnings include language.**

* * *

><p><strong>Bruce<strong>

He was aware of a warm presence sliding close to him. After months of being cold and alone, he rejoiced in being so close to her.

He sighed happily and reached up to grab her hand, which was draped over his torso. He slid his hand up her forearm.

He frowned when he felt coarse hair on the arm. He opened his eyes to see sun streaming in through the window of the hotel room. The events of the past few hours washed over him, and he exulted in the fact that he was reunited with Alice once again.

Of course, now that he thought about it, she was in her room and he was sharing the hide-a-bed with Tony.

Which meant…

Bruce kicked backwards hard, pushing the unconscious engineer over and off the bed.

Tony woke up with a loud snort, looking around blindly. He jumped up and spun in a circle, searching for his assailant. "Wha? What happened? Who…?"

"Stop trying to spoon me!" Bruce hissed loudly, getting up and pulling one of the blankets off the bed with him.

Tony took a deep breath and sat back down on the bed, "I told you, if you wanted to share a bed with me, you'd have to be my little spoon."

"I don't WANT to be the little spoon! Definitely not YOUR little spoon!"

"Do you want to be the big spoon?"

"NO SPOONS! I DON'T WANT TO SPOON AT ALL!"

"What about forking?" asked Alice, her voice sounded tired, but amused. She was leaning by the door frame of her room. They must have woken her up with his yelling.

Bruce blushed crimson. He looked around nervously. "Sorry…I didn't mean to wake you…"

He was vaguely aware of Tony pulling the blanket from his hand and covering back up on the sofa bed.

"I was already awake anyway," she yawned and stretched, her tank top riding up to expose the pale skin on her abdomen.

"This early?" asked Bruce, trying hard not to gawk at what amounted to a scarce inch of bare skin.

Tony was already asleep again.

"I got in the habit of waking up early when we were looking for you. Now, we're not leaving until 11, so I have 5 hours to kill. You can come lay in my bed if you want. I promise I won't try to spoon OR fork you."

_I wouldn't protest if you did. _

"Are you sure? I mean…"

"You look like you could use the sleep. I'm just playing around on my laptop, if the light from the screen won't bother you."

"It won't…bother me, I mean…are you sure it's what you want to…"

"Oh come off it, Banner. You won't have a metal bar in your back…" she said tantalizingly.

He looked down to where Tony had appropriated the entire sofa bed, lying diagonally across it, on both pillows. He nodded, looking back to Alice, "Okay."

She smiled and turned to walk back into her room. He tried not to run as he followed her.

He was half expecting her to stop and change her mind.

She left the door open, and took a spot on the bed, opening her laptop.

Bruce took the spot furthest from her, curling up with a pillow. He pulled his knees up until he was in the fetal position, breathing in deeply. He wanted to stay awake. Being in her presence was a novelty he never thought he'd have again. But, her bed was very comfortable and the pillows smelled like her hair. He soon drifted off to sleep to the sound of her fingers pecking on the keyboard.

He didn't know how long he slept, but when he was next aware, he felt fingers carding through his hair. He was about to swat Tony again, when he realized it wasn't Tony. It was Alice. Really Alice this time. She tugged the blanket up over his shoulders and ran her fingers over the top of his head. His hair was almost too short to run her fingers through.

He leaned into her touch automatically. She froze, as did he.

_Idiot…you ruined it. _

He slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to focus on her face, which was bathed in natural light from the window.

She slowly retreated, apologizing quietly as she started to lean back. He reached out to grab her hand, lacing their fingers. He tugged on her gently and opened his arms wide. She hesitated for a moment before snuggling down against his chest. She still fit. Perfectly.

He sighed contentedly as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I needed this…" she said quietly.

"Me too," he croaked, surprised at how hoarse his voice had become.

"I still need space, though…I mean…this isn't…"

He shushed her. "I know we're not okay yet," he assured her, tightening his hold on her. His arms fit around her better than he remembered.

She twined her legs with his, her head growing heavy on his chest as she yawned.

"I thought you were used to being up this early," he teased.

"I'm so comfortable…"

"I'm not complaining."

She mumbled something as she fell asleep. Bruce wasn't tired anymore, but he wouldn't have moved for anything.

He stroked the hand he held in his, feeling the burn scars on her wrists. He looked down, inspecting the spiraling marks as they disappeared mid-forearm.

It made his heart hurt to think of how she had gotten them.

The flesh looked red, rather than pink. They SHOULD be healing by now, but these looked inflamed. He'd have to ask her about it when she woke up. They didn't feel warm, so there was no infection. No hurry.

He let his other hand travel up her back and into her hair. It was really short now. Not that he didn't like it, but it was such a huge change from the long auburn tresses that he found everywhere when they lived together. Stuck in the soap, in the sink, stuck to his clothes. It was somewhat longer in the front than it was in the back. It was a flattering style, but Bruce couldn't really think of any style that wouldn't be flattering on Alice.

They were laying there about 45 minutes when Bruce heard Tony stirring out in the living room. Alice must have heard him as well, because she sat straight up, untangling herself from him quickly, but not quickly enough.

Tony poked his head in through the door and raised his eyebrows. "So you guys are doing this with the door open? People might get the wrong idea."

Alice huffed angrily as she scooted off the bed. She stormed out of the room, knocking Tony in the shoulder as she passed him.

Bruce remained on the bed, feeling the cold returning now that she'd left his side.

Tony, on the other hand, turned to follow her. "Hey…Ice Queen. The cold bothers me, so maybe tell me what your problem is."

She turned abruptly, her eyes flashing. "Are you SURE that's what you wanna ask me, friend?"

"I ain't your friend, BUDDY," Tony retorted.

"You can say THAT again," she hissed, scooping coffee aggressively into the coffee maker.

"Hey…HEY! I was kidding. Just now? You know...Dammit, I apologized. I did my part. This…this little GRUDGE you're holding. Is all you, sweetheart. I have done everything I can think of to make it up to you and you aren't biting. Not my fault that you're an unyielding b—…" he trailed off when he felt Bruce's hand close around the back of his neck.

"Unyielding what?" he whispered.

"Unyielding beeeuty. Of course…"

"Bruce. Knock it off. This is between me and Tony," Alice said sharply. "He's right, I am an unyielding bitch. And I don't care. Unyielding bitches can't get their feelings hurt."

"I apologized, Alice!" Tony insisted. "I'll do it again, now. I'm sorry!"

"It doesn't make me feel better, it's not enough," she said shortly.

"Well, I don't know what else you want me to do."

"I don't want you to do anything. Just drop it."

"You KNOW I can't do that."

"Try."

"Look, you should be thanking me. I was the one who convinced him to come back."

Alice turned to look at Bruce for a split second.

Bruce gulped and raised his hand slightly, "Well…ACTUALLY."

"No. No 'actually'," Tony sputtered. "No 'actually', don't take this away from me…"

"Actually, I was planning on coming back, I just wanted to wait, and give you time to cool off, Alice."

"I wasn't accusing you of anything, Bruce. It doesn't matter how you got here. It matters that you're here."

"No. It matters how he got here. And it was ALL ME, BABY! Alice couldn't do it, STEVE couldn't do it. I did it. All. Me."

Bruce grimaced slightly, shrugging apologetically. "Not really. I was already going to come back."

"You can't let me have this ONE THING, BANNER?"

Alice was silent, pulling out a frying pan and heating some butter in it on the stove. She stalked over to the fridge, opening it and pulling out a carton of eggs.

"Eggs, Bruce?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

"I can make them. You don't have to do it for me…"

"I'm already out here, I'm having some. I can make some for you, not a huge deal. Over easy?"

He nodded quickly, realizing that she was not in a mood to be argued with. It was best to just agree and survive.

"I'll take some scrambled if you're offering," Tony said hopefully.

"I'm not," she said coldly.

Tony sighed again. "Can I have some of that coffee, or is it only for the people NOT on your shit list?"

She shrugged, cracking two eggs into the skillet. She made some toast while she waited to flip the eggs.

When they were finished, she plated them and slid Bruce's plate across the counter to him. She hastily beat two more eggs in a bowl and scrambled them, plating and sliding them over to Tony, who just barely caught them in his surprise.

She turned and walked determinedly back to the bedroom.

"I thought you were going to eat?" Bruce called after her.

"Out of eggs now," she replied. "I'll get something else after my shower."

"There're 4 left," called Tony.

"Those are for Steve."

Bruce frowned. She really should eat something. He heard the shower turn on.

Steve came in, shutting the door behind him. He pulled the earbuds out of his ears. "Good morning, everyone."

He must have just come back from a run, by the looks of him.

"Is Alice up?"

"She's in the shower," Bruce answered, dipping his toast into his eggs. He considered saving them for Alice, but he knew she wouldn't eat them. His dippy eggs made her gag.

"Did she eat?" asked Steve, eyeing the eggs still in the carton.

"Nope," Bruce and Tony said in unison.

Steve sighed.

"Does she make it a habit to not eat breakfast?" asked Bruce cautiously.

"I don't see how that's any concern of YOURS," Steve snipped sharply.

"It DOES concern me because I care about her," Bruce said, his tone mimicking Steve's.

Steve pressed his lips together. "Look, normally…I wouldn't say anything, but…" he turned to look Bruce in the eye. "Don't mess this up. You're getting a second chance. Use it wisely."

Bruce grumbled and stood to wash his plate and fork in the sink. He wanted nothing more than to tell the super soldier to back the fuck off, but he knew he had no right, since Steve had been there for Alice and he hadn't.

He decided he should probably go get ready, but he quickly realized that he had nothing with him. "I don't have any clothes or anything…"

"You do…" Alice said. She was standing in her door, drying her hair. She had on a grey t-shirt and jeans. She draped the towel over the back of the couch and walked over to a closet in the living room area.

She pulled out his old duffel bag, the one he lost before he met the hippies.

"I…uh…washed and folded everything for you…in case…we found you."

"I'm glad you did…Thank you."

She smiled, embarrassed.

"So, do I…tip you or something?" he joked lightheartedly. One look at her face told him it was too soon to joke.

"No…"

"Sorry…I…I was joking…I'm really glad that you…"

"You're welcome," she said abruptly. She grabbed the towel off the couch and went back into the bedroom.

Bruce tried not to read into it too much. He tried to let that morning drift from his head, because in retrospect, it was a mistake. There was no way they could ignore all this tension between them. Cuddling had only made things more complicated.

"Maybe you should stick to your social strengths and keep quiet," suggested Tony.

* * *

><p><strong>Alice<strong>

She didn't know why he had upset her so easily.

Probably because she couldn't believe how weak she was. When he'd grabbed her arm, she thought he was going to kiss her, throw her down on the bed, and make love to her. And she was fine with it.

After all the shit he'd put her through, a couple of hours and some sweet words was all it took, apparently.

She cooked him breakfast. Had all his clean laundry folded and waiting for him.

He was SO going to get the wrong idea…

She finished packing and dressed quickly, meeting them all downstairs by the car.

"SHOTGUN!" hollered Tony, jumping into the passenger seat.

Steve was taking the first driving shift, so that left Alice and Bruce in the backseat.

_Look at how that worked out. _She thought bitterly.

She was just going to have to be strong. Otherwise, she'd end up right where she'd started.

Bruce climbed in first, to sit behind Tony, and Steve helped her into the car. She felt a slight increase in gamma coming from Bruce, but she chose to ignore it. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she knew he was jealous of Steve. STEVE, for Pete's sake.

She got settled in the backseat, slipping off her shoes and tucking her feet up in the seat next to her. She was careful not to touch Bruce with them, but also to not make it obvious either.

The car had been gassed up yesterday, so they left, driving east.

About 45 minutes into the drive, her stomach growled loudly, breaking the silence.

"Did you eat breakfast?" asked Bruce, peering over at her.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to," she responded without moving.

He said nothing, continuing to stare at her questioningly.

She continued, "You ask that question, full well knowing what my answer will be. The purpose of asking is to embarrass me and put me on the spot. I don't appreciate it and I won't be buying into that kind of manipulation anymore. Either treat me as an equal or don't treat me at all."

She turned to look at him, his mouth hanging open. He closed it quickly, turning slightly red.

He was putting off a significant amount of gamma. She sniffed and looked out the window.

Tony was staring too intently at his feet and Steve was over-concentrating on driving.

"And what was that? An attempt to put me in my place?" Bruce hissed at her.

"No more than your inquiry was an attempt to put me in mine," she answered haughtily.

"I'm concerned for your well-being."

"NO. You don't think I'm capable of taking care of myself without you."

"ARE you?" he asked.

She ignored him, returning to stare out the window. Tony cleared his throat, probably attempting to remind them that they weren't the only people in the car. She didn't really care if HE was uncomfortable, but she didn't want to bother Steve.

The sun was high overhead and the light coming in through the window felt hot, so she pulled off her hoodie, rubbing absently over the scars on her arms. She barely noticed them anymore, only when the skin got too dry and they itched, like right now.

They never had faded like the doctor said they would, but she had regained most of her mobility.

She grabbed her purse and pulled out the really nice lanolin cream Darcy had sent along with Clint the last time he'd visited. She rubbed some on her wrists and forearms, the relief was almost instantaneous.

As she was replacing the cream in her purse, Bruce reached out to touch the scars on her arm. The place he touched her tingled.

"Are they itching? Is that why they're still red? You're scratching them?" he asked, taking her hand in his while he inspected her arms.

"They don't itch often, only if they get dry. And why do you automatically assume it's something I'M doing wrong? Because dumb old Alice can't take care of herself? I guess I need one of those head cones that dogs have to wear. For my own good. So I don't hurt myself."

Tony inhaled sharply from the front seat.

She increased her siphon again.

"First of all, those cones are so dogs don't BITE themselves. Secondly and for the last time, I ask because I'm WORRIED about you."

"Because YOU think I can't take care of myself! That I'm too STUPID to survive without you! I've been doing FINE."

"Fine? If you haven't been eating, you aren't fine."

"MY eating habits are none of your business."

"I care about you, I LOVE you! If you were taking proper care of yourself, I wouldn't have to worry, now would I?"

"Stop talking to me like I'm a child! I do what needs doing. Quit picking at me and trying to micro manage my life. I don't need someone to be my father!"

"Alas…they had forgotten they weren't the only ones in the car," Tony said quietly from the front seat.

Steve was silent, still driving.

"I'm not trying to be your father. I'm trying to take care of you!"

"I don't NEED you to take care of me, Bruce! Lay off!"

"Well, if I don't 'pick at you' as you put it, you'd never tell me anything, and I'd have to hear everything second hand," Bruce exclaimed.

He was of course, referring to her suicide attempt and how everyone else knew before him.

She set her jaw painfully, biting down on her tongue to keep from screaming at him.

"Maybe if you weren't so intense, I would tell you things in my own time," she spat, unable to let things go.

"So…when would you have told me that you were suicidal? Perhaps from beyond the grave?"

She bristled, closing her eyes and seeing red. She turned slowly to glare at him. "Yeah, that sounds about right. I think that's the next time you'll hear ANYTHING from me."

"Alice…"

She clamped her mouth shut, putting on her earbuds and turning on her music. Loud. Mumford & Sons drowned out the rest of Bruce's protestations. She had to increase her siphon significantly, so she peeked over at him. He was fuming. If he'd been a cartoon, there would have been steam coming out of his ears and you could have fried an egg on his forehead.

Steve pulled over at a gas station, presumably to fill up, but Alice thought it was to let everyone cool off.

She pulled out the earbuds, walking over to where Bruce was pacing back and forth. She shouldn't leave it like this.

"Bruce?" she ventured softly.

"What?!" he snapped.

"I apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have said what I said. I was out of line. This needs to happen in a safe environment and not in front of other people."

"Wow, thanks, Alice. That makes me feel LOADS better," he quipped darkly. His tone was two shakes shy of maniacal.

She pressed her lips together. "I'm just sick of you trying to parent me."

"That's SICK," he hissed. "I'm not trying to PARENT my girlfriend."

"Well, if you're not trying to parent me, you're trying to change me. Which is it?"

"You just need to learn how to take better care of yourself."

"I'm an adult, Bruce. I'm not a child."

"You're an adult, ACT LIKE ONE. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, so I don't have to worry about you all the time."

"I'll bet you did a LOT of worrying while you were running away from me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I am a household name now, Banner. In case you didn't notice. I'm in the public eye whether I want to be or not. And you straight up left me without a way to defend myself."

"I'm sorry about that, but it's not like I didn't have a reason to leave."

"You didn't."

"I DID. I didn't know if you and…LOGAN were together or what. And I wouldn't be able to watch that, Alice. I'm sorry. I'm not saying you can't move on if that's what you want, but I can't watch it happen. I can't. It would kill me. I love you. I can't switch it off like that."

She stared at him incredulously. "If you think I can switch it off like that, you must not think very highly of me at all."

"You KISSED another man, Alice."

He had her there. She STILL didn't know why she had done it. She crossed her arms across her middle, her fingers digging painfully into her ribs as she tried to keep herself from falling apart. "Bruce, we need help."

A confused expression crossed his face. It was better than the angry one on it before. "What?"

"We need HELP. If we try to fix this on our own, we're going to kill each other."

He scoffed half-heartedly, like he knew it was true. "What do you mean by help?"

"Therapy."

His eyes glassed over. She knew how he felt about therapists.

She continued quickly, attempting to sugar coat what was surely a bitter pill for him to swallow, "With Dr. Xavier. He's already offered, Bruce."

"We'll talk about it later," he said quietly, suddenly calm and collected.

"Bruce…"

"LATER, I said!" he exclaimed loudly, turning and storming off to the car, leaving Alice standing in the parking lot, kicking a dirt clod with her shoe.

She sighed and leaned against the side of the building. Being alone was nice.

_I honestly don't know what I was expecting. We picked right up where we left off, didn't we?_

She kicked the dirt again angrily, sending clouds up around her. Steve approached, carrying a paper bag. He pulled out two sodas and a bag of Bugles. He handed her the chips and one of the sodas.

She checked the label. Cherry Vanilla.

"Haven't tried this one yet…" she said, twisting the cap and breaking the seal.

"Didn't think we had, wasn't sure," Steve answered.

There was a line of sodas that they'd been sampling for the past few months. They sold different flavors in different places. It had become a game with them, trying to taste all of the purported 150 flavors. They'd come up at about halfway with 78. 79 now. Her favorite had been the mojito root beer; Steve's had been the chocolate covered strawberry.

"This is no mojito root beer. I'd pay good money for a case of that at Stark Tower," she joked.

Steve grinned, opening his and taking a sip. "That one was disgusting."

"It takes a refined palate, Steve."

He chuckled, shaking his head.

They were silent for a moment.

He elbowed her gently. Of course, gently for a super soldier was NOT gently for the average Joe, so she toppled over. She laughed and elbowed him back. "What's up?"

"The sky. The sun. The moon…your thoughts?"

"I agree. All of those things are up."

"Alice…"

She sighed, taking another sip of her soda. "Just the usual. Fighting with Bruce."

"Sorry…"

"No…it's my fault. I should know better than to bring up some of this stuff with him."

Steve was silent.

"I actually suggested THERAPY. I mean, what was I thinking?"

Steve snickered, "I bet that went over like a lead balloon."

"This WISHES it could go over like a lead balloon. This DREAMS of achieving what lead balloons can do."

He laughed, "That bad?"

"Worse."

He nudged her again. "Chin up, Vorso."

"Well, I have no choice around you, Rogers."

"Aw…"

"Because you're so tall, I have to have my chin up to look at you."

He smirked and took her empty bottle from her. "And here I thought you were complimenting me."

"I am. You know I joke when I'm uncomfortable."

"Well, just…try and make it a little longer than 2 hours without another blowout, and I THINK we'll be on the right track."

"Music. Music would be nice," said Alice, laughing.

"You hook it up. I like your music."

"Seriously, Steve. You just plug the cord into the only hole it will fit into. Easier than sex. With sex, you've got a one in three shot."

He frowned and then groaned. "Alice…really?"

She laughed and pushed off the wall. "Tony would have appreciated that one."

"You should tell him about it."

"Nah. Too soon."

"It seems like you're madder at him than you are Bruce."

"I'm a different kind of mad at Tony than Bruce."

"Oh," Steve said simply. They were both silent as they walked back to the car, but Alice felt a LOT better.

* * *

><p><strong>Bruce<strong>

Bruce stomped back over to the car, leaning against it. He really wanted the other guy right now.

_Therapy? She thinks we need THERAPY?_

"Whoa there, Big Guy," Tony hopped backwards as Bruce nearly ran into him.

"She wants us to get THERAPY!"

"I'm perfectly happy with our relationship the way it is. Even if you don't want to be the little spoon. That's okay."

"Alice and I. In therapy."

"Right. That makes more sense."

"Like inviting a third party into our relationship is going to magically fix it."

"Hey, I am TOTALLY game to be your 'third party'. Anytime, man. Just say the word and I am THERE. For both of you."

Bruce didn't pay attention to Tony, because he was fixated on Alice and Steve sharing sodas and laughing together.

TOGETHER.

He swatted Tony in the arm. "What's going on over there?"

"It looks like they are…GASP! DRINKING SODAS TOGETHER!"

"No, but…look. Steve…he's nudging her."

"Right, I forgot that the super soldier shows his intent to mate by nudging the female of the species with his elbow."

"No, but seriously, that's a lot of contact for him. You don't think…?"

"That you're absolutely crazy? Why yes. Yes, I do."

"No, but with…LOGAN, she…"

"Dude. Rogers is a lot of things, but a sleazy dog isn't one of them. He'd never snake a girl from you. For God's sake, the man LITERALLY eats his Wheaties every morning! Several bowls! But Logan…he'd probably fuck her in your bed while you were still in it."

Bruce narrowed his eyes.

"Not to say that Alice would have done that. She's WAY classier than that. She probably would take a vow of celibacy if you ended things with her now. But Logan? He would have tried. That guy is fluent in vulnerability like I'm fluent in sarcasm. He saw his way in and he took it. Steve, on the other hand, is annoyingly loyal and a gentleman to a fault. You have nothing to worry about with Rogers. And you have nothing to worry about with Alice."

"You're just blowing sunshine up my ass, aren't you?"

"Is it working?"

"No."

"Then, No, man. I'm definitely not doing that."

Bruce rolled his eyes and sat down in the car. He watched her walk back over.

_It would be easier to be mad at her if she wasn't so fucking gorgeous._ He felt the scowl melt from his face as she jogged over to the car, climbing into the backseat.

Her scent invaded his nose.

She got herself settled, taking off her shoes and folding her legs into the seat with her. Her bare toes barely skimmed his thigh, but they felt like they were burning a hole in the fabric.

Was she warm? Or was it just his imagination? She usually felt cool, especially her feet.

All his anger melted away as he snuck side glances at her.

She was leaning against the window, not trying to sleep, though.

"You can…uh…put your feet in my lap if you want…" Bruce offered. Quietly, so as not to alert the others.

She turned towards him warily. "Are you sure? I mean…"

"You'll be more comfortable if you can stretch out," he said.

She straightened her legs, resting them on his lap. She reached up for the cable that connected the Mp3 to the music system in the car.

Soon she was filling the car with her strange, eclectic playlists.

She kept sneaking looks at him sideways, which made his face grow hot.

He really wanted to go back to that morning, when they were cuddling. But, he knew it would be a while before they got there again.

They didn't speak for a long time. He concentrated on the small weight of her feet on his thigh and the sound of her voice when she quietly sang along to some of the songs. He couldn't quite make out what it sounded like and it hurt that he'd never really heard her sing before. That she'd never felt comfortable enough to share that part of herself with him.

The silence was obvious, but not oppressive as it had been. Bruce let his shoulders relax as he leaned back in the surprisingly comfortable back seat, falling into a semi-conscious sleep.

He was jarred awake suddenly by Tony's voice. "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!"

He blinked and looked around, squinting in the setting sun. "I'm a vegetarian," he reminded Tony, looking at their surroundings. They seemed to have stopped for dinner at a roadhouse.

"Wakey, wakey vegetables!" Tony corrected himself, rolling his eyes.

"I can still eat eggs."

"Wakey, wakey, suck my dick!" he exclaimed exasperatedly.

"No thanks. Not that hard up," Bruce sniggered.

Alice sat up abruptly, frowning at the intrusion. She had scooted down in the seat so far that her knees now rested where her feet had been and her legs were bent and looped across his waist, her feet resting on the side console beside Bruce.

She blushed and scooted back over, pulling her legs off his. She winced as they fell with a thump to the floorboards. "Legs are asleep! Legs ARE asleep!" she exclaimed, kicking the back of Tony's seat.

Bruce was still in the process of waking up, but it really seemed like the level of mayhem in the car increased exponentially by the second. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on Alice's sporadically kicking calves. "Stop kicking, please, I can help…"

"You don't have to…"

"I do, apparently," he grinned. "Sit up straight, please."

She obliged him and he proceeded to rub one hand up the inside of her calf and the other down the outside. Within a few minutes, she had full use of her legs again.

"Thanks…I forgot how good at that you are…" she blushed again and scrambled out of the backseat of the car.

Bruce got out and they all went into the roadhouse. The lights were dim inside, but it smelled good. He was at once sad he was a vegetarian.

There were peanut shells on the ground, which felt right for the atmosphere, but Alice seemed to be disgusted by them.

Not surprising, given her propensity for neatness.

They were seated at a table in the corner, Bruce noticed that Alice's gaze kept flitting nervously to the bar and back front again. Intrigued, he slyly glanced in the direction she was looking, at once realizing what had her so nervous.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the bright orange end of a lit cigar flare up and disappear.

_Logan…_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Hey guys, sorry I'm so late with this, everyone in my house had/has the flu. I'm still suffering. *whimpers* Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm still hopped up on flu meds, so I'm not really able to discuss anything here, but totally shoot me a message and I'll try to answer it. If nothing else, we can laugh at how high I am on my flu cocktail. **

**Sorry for the cliffie...if I hadn't left it there, it would have been about 10-11K words. Yikes. So, that's for next week. **

**As always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, but I do own Alice. **

**Review, I live for them. Please?**

**Follow/Favorite if you feel so inclined. Have a great weekend!**


	7. Tremble For Yourself

**A/N at the end. Song for this chapter is "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons. (That song is perfection for Bruce, don't you think?) Warnings include implied child abuse and language. **

* * *

><p><strong>Bruce<strong>

_Bruce noticed that Alice's gaze kept flitting nervously to the bar and back front again. Intrigued, he slyly glanced in the direction she was looking, at once realizing what had her so nervous. _

_His eyes narrowed as he watched the bright orange end of a lit cigar flare up and disappear._

_Logan… _

As if someone had slapped him, he went from calm to completely enraged in no time flat.

His breath grew heavy. He started to see red.

All he could think about was that filthy mutant's lips on hers. His hands on her waist…Bruce growled none too softly.

He felt the Other Guy clawing at the confines of his mind. His head throbbed.

_Calm down, calm down… _

_SMASH LOGAN. SMASH HIS STUPID FACE! _

_No…no…not here. Too many people. _

_CAN'T STOP NOW…_

His concentration was broken when Alice made a tiny sound akin to a grunt or a whimper. Whatever the sound, he knew she wasn't faring well with the siphon. His now glowing green eyes swept the table, from Tony's wide eyed stare to Steve's scared and worried one, turning this way and that, undoubtedly looking for the best escape route for all these civilians.

_Don't do it. Don't…_

He suddenly felt her hand on his, causing him to jump. He looked down into her eyes, wide and frightened.

His breath caught in his throat.

Her eyes…they looked…

He pressed his fists into his own as a memory he didn't want surged forth in his mind. "Please…no…" he half pleaded, the pounding in his head was almost too much.

Alice was talking to him, but he couldn't hear her…he was too busy trying to bury the memory that had surfaced.

A memory from years ago.

_"Please…Brian…let us go…" _

_Bruce looked up from the folds of his mother's coat to see her face, her eyes wide and frightened as his father stepped towards them, his feet splashing in the puddles on the wet pavement. _

_"Where are you going with the boy, Rebecca?" he seethed. _

_"I'm taking him, we're leaving. You can't hurt us anymore." _

_"You aren't leaving, you're not taking that…that…MONSTER out into the world!" he shouted. _

_"The only monster here is YOU," she said, a tear slipping down her cheek. "He's my baby and I'm not letting you hurt him anymore. We don't need anything from you. Just leave us alone." _

_"He'll kill you. Don't you see that? HE'S the evil one, planting all this nonsense in your head!" _

_Bruce froze as his father started to pace maniacally. He could feel his body shaking, but it wasn't from the rain or the cold. It was in fear of the man in front of him. _

_"He's a CHILD!" _

_"NOW, but he'll get older. He'll get bigger. He's already too smart. Why are you so smart?" he bent to yell in Bruce's face. _

_Bruce didn't flinch. He was used to it. Yelling never hurt him. It was what came after…_

_"Stop it," Mom commanded, "He's smart because he's a genius. Like YOU, Brian. You're his father, how could you doubt that he's smart because of you?" _

_"I wasn't this smart this young. This is just the mutation. He's a filthy mutant and I'm not letting him destroy the world!" _

_"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM!" his mother cried. Bruce jumped. He'd never heard her raise her voice before. "Now, get out of our way. We're leaving." _

_Dad widened his eyes in surprise. Obviously, Mom's outburst had surprised him too. She pushed Bruce towards the car door. He stumbled towards the vehicle, pulling on the handle. He looked back to see his mother bent down to pick up her purse that she must have dropped. His father was holding a brick aloft over his head. _

_It took him a moment to realize what was happening and by the time he had, it was too late. _

_ The brick came down with a sickening crack. His mother slumped down over the curb. _

_ "MOM!" _

Bruce looked up with a gasp, his vision blurry with tears. He looked to his right. Alice still looked frightened.

He was scaring her.

_She's scared of me…_

She looked at him like his mother had looked at his father.

And he HATED that.

The Other Guy growled impatiently while his head pulsed. His heart raced.

He never wanted to be that person.

He wouldn't, COULDN'T do this to her. Not anymore.

He swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath. He folded his hands over his eyes, propping his head on the table. He took another breath and another. As many as he needed to push the Other Guy back down.

He could feel her siphon working. Could feel it draining him of the rage coursing through his veins. He opened himself to it, allowed her access. It cooled the fire that threatened to engulf both himself and everyone around him.

His heart rate slowed. He kept breathing…in…and out…in…and out.

Tony and Steve each let out a sigh of relief.

Finally, Bruce felt Alice start to relax. Her hand appeared again in the crook of his arm. He let one of his hands drop down to enclose it, stroking it absently with his thumb.

"Bruce?" she asked tentatively. He leaned towards her, his eyes still closed. "Are you okay?"

He felt the corners of his mouth pull upward. He nodded. "I'm fine."

He opened his eyes, looking around at everyone at the table. He nodded as if to reassure himself. "I'm fine," he repeated.

Tony's eyes were wide and Steve looked unsure.

"I'm FINE," Bruce insisted.

"Are you sure? Because your eyes got all…GREEN," Tony said quietly, his gaze darting back and forth. "I've only ever seen you pull back from that once. I thought I was going to have to pay for a new roadhouse…"

"I'm sure."

"How did you DO that?" asked Steve. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't me. It was Alice."

That was the truth. It was BECAUSE of Alice.

"ALICE DID THAT?" Steve asked, as both he and Tony turned to gawk at her.

She shifted uncomfortably, "I could use some fresh air…" she looked longingly towards the door. Bruce quickly scooted out of the booth to allow her through.

She got out and started to walk towards the door.

He was unsure if she wanted him to follow her. She turned and shot him a look over her shoulder, so he promptly walked after her, leaving two very confused men back at the table.

Once they were outside, the cool air hit his face, but the sun was still warm. He hadn't realized that he was sweating, but he was. He was also damn near exhausted.

She leaned up against the hood of Tony's car. He joined her.

They were both silent for a few moments. He heard her taking deep breaths and fidgeting against the car hood. She kept crossing and uncrossing her legs.

"How did you do that?" she asked presently.

He shrugged.

"No…tell me. Did you discover something while you were on the run? Some kind of…relaxant or something?"

He sputtered in laughter, but quickly hid his mirth behind his hand.

"What?" She sounded perturbed, like he was in on a joke that she wasn't.

"A relaxant is something someone would take to…uh…make their bowels more regular," he tried to correct her gently, without making it sound like it was something she should have known.

She rolled her eyes, "You KNOW what I meant!" She was attempting to be serious, but she was soon suppressing giggles too. He could feel her body still shaking. Nerves. The giggling was probably nerves too.

"I do, but it's still quite humorous."

"I agree, it's quite femur."

He paused, confused for a moment before grinning widely. "Haha. I said humerus. You said femur. You're so cute."

"I try…"

"Nah," he slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his side, "It's your natural state. Useless to resist it."

She untangled herself from his arms, "Okay, so what's gotten into you?" she pulled back from him, staring hard into his eyes. Obviously looking for something there. He tried to remain as open as possible, let her see whatever she needed.

He shrugged again. "What do you mean?"

"Well, this morning in the car, you were all…on my case about not eating, all jealous about Steve (don't THINK I couldn't feel that)…and now you're…" she trailed off.

"What?"

"Pleasant. You haven't been pleasant in a long time. Did you hit your head or something?"

"Wow. Thanks," he chuckled sardonically.

"WELL…can you BLAME me for thinking it?"

He shook his head. "No. No, not at all…and I'm sorry for that. You deserve more…pleasantries."

She didn't say anything, just stared at him. Still searching for whatever she was looking for.

He sighed heavily, "Alice, I saw I was scaring you. I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to scare you. I don't want you to always be on edge around me, like you were with Zeke."

She frowned. "Let's not speak ill of the dead…" she pressed her lips together.

"Just because he's dead doesn't change the fact that he was a JERK! You were scared of him! You look at me the same way. Don't deny it."

She blinked rapidly, looking down at her hands.

He nodded semi-triumphantly, but the victory was an empty one. He grabbed both of her hands, pulling them to his lips before clasping them in front of him. "I PROMISE you, I will never make you frightened of me again. I can't promise things won't be scary, but I can promise that I will never be the cause."

She smiled, shaking her head. "Bruce. No offense. But you're the Hulk."

"I know. And I'm still promising. I never want to be the reason you're scared."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I CAN keep it, though. Did you see? Just now? When I saw Logan, I wanted nothing more than to squash his head against the pavement. But, I didn't. I stopped myself."

"Yeah…I STILL don't know how you did that. I haven't been siphoning from you for all that long. I'm rusty…what the hell happened?"

"Alice. I love you."

"I love you too, but it's never been enough to keep the Other Guy away…"

He paused before speaking again, urging the painful lump in his throat to retreat. "I…I don't want to be like my father…" he mumbled. A confession more than anything else.

"I never said…" she paused. "Is THAT what this is about?"

He felt tears welling up. "You reminded me of my mother earlier…I mean...that's not bad. It wasn't…Freudian or anything, but…when you looked at me, it was exactly the way she looked at him, and I don't want to be…" he sighed, "I don't want you to EVER think I would hurt you. I never would. The Other Guy, he wouldn't either."

"I know you wouldn't hurt me."

"But I do. I have hurt you. Not physically, but I am a bully."

"You're not! I know I rag on you a lot, but when I get upset…"

"I am...a bully. And I'm passive aggressive. AND I have been tending towards whiny asshole as of late. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I—"

She shifted, standing so she was in front of him. She slid her arms around his waist and leaned against him, all her weight. What there was of it.

He wrapped his arms around her, continuing, "And, I want to go to therapy with you. Couples therapy, whatever you think we need. I can't promise that I'll always be receptive, but I do promise to try. Because you're worth everything. You're…everything. Nothing else matters."

"Bruce, if you're uncomfortable with it, we can figure out something else. I was really just making a suggestion…"

"No. Let's do this. I am confident if we can escape TWO evil villains, we can definitely conquer couples therapy."

She looked up at him and smiled. "I'm not sure…we'll both have to admit we were wrong about things. Definitely NOT in our list of super powers."

He laughed.

She bit her lip nervously, looking down and then up into his eyes. She leaned towards him, tentatively pressing her lips to his.

His heart almost stopped beating. He was afraid to move.

After a few seconds, she pulled back.

"I thought you said no more kisses…" he teased.

"Well, I'm a liar. We'll deal with THAT in therapy…" she grinned, leaning back in.

After a few minutes, Bruce reluctantly ended the kiss. "We should probably go back in and eat."

"Do we have to?" she whined.

"Well, at the risk of sounding 'fatherly', you really should eat."

She untangled herself from his arms, standing straight, "Sorry about that earlier, I was just being a brat."

He waved off the apology. He had made an ass of himself today…not just today. He was sick of her making excuses for him.

"I am STARVING, actually…I could really use a cheese omelet…"

"With ketchup?"

"Yep. I bet they don't serve that here, though."

"First thing, when we get back to New York. I'm making you a cheese omelet."

"I'm holding you to that. Even if we get back at 1 in the morning and you're exhausted…I want a cheese omelet with ketchup."

"Deal," he said, easing himself off the car.

Beaming, he grabbed her hand as they turned to go back into the restaurant. He was so intent to not tear his eyes from her that he forgot why they were outside in the first place.

They both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Logan walking towards them.

Alice turned to look at him nervously, as if unsure of whether or not he could handle seeing him.

Bruce gulped and tried to smile reassuringly, when the truth was, he didn't know if he could or not. He'd try his damnedest, though.

He could feel her starting to siphon from him.

Logan hadn't seen them yet, he was hunched slightly with his coat collar pulled up and his hands in his pockets. If Bruce didn't know any better, he'd say the mutant was trying to be inconspicuous. He looked to be walking towards the truck on the opposite side of their car.

_Just our luck. We WOULD have to park beside the only mutant in the country who I'd like to see dead. _

There was no getting around it. They were going to have to engage him in some way. Or simultaneously summon up an insurmountable excess of denial.

Bruce felt his heart rate increasing. He tried to concentrate on Alice's hand in his. Her skin cool and smooth. The way her short nails dug into the back of his hand.

Then the smell of cigars invaded his nostrils. He couldn't help but grimace.

Alice stopped walking.

"Uh…" Logan faltered, suddenly seeing them.

Bruce immediately felt calmer. He wasn't angry. Well, he WAS, but he wasn't ANGRY. He could control this.

Of course, Alice WAS siphoning a great deal from him and judging by the way she was breathing through clenched teeth, she WAS angry. Very ANGRY. Seething.

"Uh…uh…" she mocked Logan. "Is that ALL you have to say?"

The mutant looked at a loss for words. He turned towards Bruce for a split second, before deciding that his chances at facing Alice were probably better.

"I…uh…" he stammered.

"DUH…did you forget how to talk, Fido?" she chided coldly.

"I thought you were still in the restaurant…I…" he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I smelled that soap that you use in there…"

"Tony borrowed it this morning," she said flatly.

"That…says a lot about him," he quipped.

Bruce frowned, "Wait…why are you smelling my girlfriend?"

"Actually, I have done a lot more than…" Logan trailed off, shaking his head. "Nothing."

Bruce felt rage begin to fill him, but it left immediately. He felt cold.

Her hand felt hot in his. Sweaty. Clammy. She was shaking with recently siphoned rage. She pulled her hand free of his.

"That's right, NOTHING," Alice spat.

Bruce reached out to touch her shoulder. She didn't shrug him off, but she wasn't really paying attention to him. She was too busy hurling insults at Logan.

"After all the SHIT you caused, you could at LEAST apologize."

"Apologize for WHAT? YOU banished me from Stark Tower, how was I supposed to know what happened?"

"You knew. You knew or you wouldn't have done it. You knew he was standing there."

"I didn't know SHIT, Alice. I was just acting on an impulse," Logan insisted. "An instinct. Ever heard of it? Or did you and Brucey meticulously plan every single time you made the beast with two backs?"

"Keep your FUCKING impulses in CHECK, Logan."

"I am, believe me. Doesn't seem like ANYONE wants what I'm sellin'. Don't worry your sweet little ass about that."

Alice slapped him. Hard. It left a mark. A raised welt. A.. burn? It was hard to tell, it healed too quickly. He tried to feel sorry for Logan, but a tiny part of him insisted that he deserved it.

Bruce leapt forward and wound his arms around her, pulling her kicking and spitting form back away from the other man. It was no easy feat, she was really strong. And moving erratically.

"Go, Logan," He ground out after Alice kicked him in the shin.

Logan hesitated for a moment, before turning to go. "I won't hit a lady. Even if she ain't acting like one at the moment…take care, Banner."

Bruce didn't answer, it was becoming harder and harder to control her. It was worrisome that she had gotten this worked up. He wondered absently if this was what it was like dealing with him.

At the last second, she broke free, raising her hand in front of her, she let a gamma bolt fly directly into Logan's open truck door. It flew off the hinges taking Logan with it, slamming to a halt against the cinderblock wall. His claws sliding out with a loud SNIKT!

He groaned, standing up with the truck door still in his hand. He shook his head a few times, before glaring down at the door. He turned the glare towards Alice.

He retracted his claws menacingly. Somehow.

She was standing with her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god…" she stammered.

He stomped back over to the truck and fit the door back on, giving it a kick to pop it in place.

"Falls off all the time," he grumbled. "I usually don't go with it…YOU," he pointed at Alice, "Need to learn to control yourself." He nodded towards Bruce before awkwardly getting in the truck and driving off.

Alice sat down on the curb, her hands still covering her face. "Oh my god…"

"What happened there?"

She shook her head. "I don't know…I just… couldn't control myself. I wanted to hurt him, Bruce. I know it's not entirely his fault, but I was so sure if I could just…claw that smug look off his face, I would feel better…I'm just…I'm so angry! Angry at him, angry at Tony, angry at YOU…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Just…STOP apologizing, okay? You're making it hard to be mad at you. But 20 minutes of 'pleasantries' aren't going to make up for everything…"

"I know that…I know…"

She huffed loudly, "Come on. I'm starving. Let's go eat."

He stayed put for a moment.

"I'm not going to gamma attack you. Don't worry. I'm still mad at you, too, but I'm coming around."

"Okay…"

He followed her back into the restaurant, bewildered by her behavior.

**Darcy**

She absently slurped the milk out of the spoon before eating the already soggy cereal. There seriously had to be a way to keep cereal from getting soggy so quickly. It was 2014 for fuck's sake.

Looking down into the bowl, she realized that she had consumed all the contents already.

"What a waste. I don't even remember what it tasted like..." She dropped the spoon into the bowl with a clatter. She locked her phone and stood, carrying her bowl over to the sink. She was eating in the common room again because her kitchen was disgusting.

_I should probably text Alice to see when they're coming back. I need to tidy up the place a bit if her Highness is going to be staying with me. Put mints on the pillows and shit. Not at the same time. _

Her thoughts were interrupted by an almost naked Clint Barton sliding out into the kitchen.

Darcy would be lying if she said she wasn't staring at his ass.

She'd never say that though. Because, who was she kidding? Dat ass in jockey shorts. Damn.

"So, if I slip you a Benjamin, do I get a happy ending?" she asked.

He turned abruptly, as if surprised to see her there.

"Yes. I'm STILL here. Jane is too, technically. Might wanna fix yourself up. Ladies present."

He rolled his eyes and stalked his perfectly sculpted hindquarters over to the fridge to pull out the carton of orange juice. He opened it and drank directly from the carton.

"Mind my backwash," she blurted.

He paused mid-swallow, but continued to gulp more juice for a good 5 seconds.

"Takes a LOT more than that, Lewis. I grew up in the circus," he wiped his mouth and replaced the carton in the fridge

"You can't use that as an excuse for being gross."

"Sure I can. I just did."

She groaned in frustration, "Barton. Put some damn pants on. I don't need to see your underwear salute."

"Lies. You love it. Admit it."

"Never. Even if I did," she assured him.

The elevator dinged, saving Darcy from the awkward conversation that was sure to follow.

Karen the Idiot shuffled out of the elevator with a large box of what looked like mail. Lots of envelopes.

She set it down with a thud on the kitchen counter.

"Can you help me with this, Darcy?"

_Every fucking time…_

"What is it?"

"Bruce's mail."

"I'm sorry…Bruce?"

"Bruce. Banner," said Karen slowly, as if DARCY was the dumb one.

"Look, Sweetness, its Dr. Banner to you. I wasn't allowed to call him Bruce until my best friend started dating him, so you sure as hell can't. Plus, the guy has 4 doctorates. Show some damn respect."

"Sorry…" she said obstinately.

Darcy started looking through the piles of mail. "Why…why? Why, Karen?"

"Why what?"

"Why haven't you sorted this yet?"

"I figured I'd do it when I was sure he was coming back. No need to do unnecessary work, amiright?"

"No. No. Because…" Darcy's heart sank as she pulled out numerous packages with warning labels on them. "These should have been put in cold storage in the lab. They're ruined now. Samples of something…did you just fall out of the dumb tree and get hit by every branch on the way down? And then the tree came to life a la Lord of the Rings and beat you until you became your present state of stupid?"

"There's nothing on here that states that these needed cold storage…" The Idiot trailed off when Darcy pointed out the cold storage sticker on each box. "Damn…can we just throw them out? Maybe he won't remember that they're here."

"How do you still have your job?" Darcy asked in awe, still looking through the piles of mail. "This one's Clint's." She slid the small package over to him.

He frowned and picked it up. "What is it?"

"It's your jalapeno jelly from the Jelly of the Month Club," Darcy said sardonically. "How the hell should I know?"

"Well, it's postmarked over 4 months ago. I hope it wasn't anything TOO important. It's from France. Do I know anyone in France, Darce?"

"What do you get if you cross an elephant with a rhino?"

"I don't know, what?" he asked before he could even think about it. He groaned inwardly and mouthed along with her, "Elephino…"

"Is there any way you could put on some pants?" asked Karen.

"Sadly, there isn't," he shrugged.

"Please? I can't even look at you."

"What a shame. I'm in impeccable physical condition." He puffed out his chest and grinned.

Karen huffed, shuffling through some of the envelopes.

Darcy slid the stack back over the counter. "Take these down to the lab. Sort them into two stacks, junk and important. Leave BOTH stacks on his desk. Don't touch anything in his office. I mean it. He'll know if you have."

The idiot redhead reddened slightly.

"You already touched something, didn't you?"

"I just…tidied up a bit. I thought he could use the help."

"He can't. He hates help. Don't do it again. I'll play it off like Jane was in there looking for something and try NOT to let on that you were being a derp-nugget again. Just stop taking liberties with stuff. Don't be such a fucking busybody."

"Sorry…I can't even try to help out?"

"Just…DO WHAT PEPPER ASKS YOU. All Bruce ever needed was for someone to remind him to eat. He has Alice to do that now. You really don't need to bother with him. Or any of the Avengers for that matter. Alice still takes care of pretty much everything."

"It's MY JOB NOW."

"You are Pepper's assistant, sweetheart. Do what Pepper tells you."

"But, it's my job," she argued.

"Well, nobody likes you," Clint piped up.

_Fuck, Clint…_

"What?" Karen looked crestfallen.

"Nobody likes you. You screw everything up. And not in the cute way Alice used to. In a really annoying, stupid, obnoxious way."

She gathered up the mail, sniffing loudly. She scooped it all into the box. "I'll leave this for you, Darcy."

"Thanks," she called after her. She turned towards Clint, "And thanks to YOU, ya blockhead."

"Someone had to tell her."

"Probably. Not like that."

He shrugged, looking at the package he'd gotten from Karen. He hopped up on the counter beside Darcy.

He held the small box out to her. "What would you say is in that?"

"A bomb."

"Seriously."

"Seriously? A bomb. Or bio-warfare. Take that to SHEILD. You don't want to unleash the bubonic plague on NYC, do you?"

"Bubonic plague wasn't airbourne."

"Whatever. Take it to SHIELD. Call Maria."

He hopped up from the counter.

"PUT SOME PANTS ON, BARTON."

"Cut me a break, Lewis. Everyone's coming back tomorrow."

_Oh, well, I guess I can cut him a…_

"What? Tomorrow? They're coming back tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

She fumed, "That bitch."

"Who?"

"Alice. She didn't even text me about it. Of course, Bruce is back, so she'll be shoved so far up his ass she'll forget what sunlight is."

"Do I sense some bitterness?"

"No. I'm just...so over talking about her all the time. It was nice having a break from it. I love her, don't get me wrong. She's my bestie. But seriously…it was all Bruce all the time. When I was talking, she was thinking about him…and now, she's coming to live with me, so I'm getting it 24/7. I'll get it from her at home and from him at work…'Oh my gosh, I need to get laid SO BAD, but I'm going to make him beg for it until I feel I've got him completely under my control…in the meantime, let me bitch about the mess in the kitchen'."

"Was that supposed to be Alice?" asked Clint.

"Yes. Was that not apparent?"

"Uncanny."

"Shut up, Pigeon."

"Do Bruce now."

Darcy lowered her voice comically, "Let me clean the cobwebs off my dick so you can jump on it, Alice…oh no, we're fighting, never mind. Science, science, science."

"You're an idiot," Clint chuckled.

"Yeah, well…I guess I'm going to clean the apartment."

"Have fun with that."

"You know it," she sighed as she trudged down the hall. She still had mountains of Bruce's mail to sort through, plus now thanks to Karen The Idiot, she had to come up with a reason why his stuff had been moved.

"Fucking awesome…" she grumbled.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**AH! I was scrambling to get this written for y'all. We all had the flu last week and I had some pretty heavy family stuff come up...so the long and short of it is, I had a hard time finding my muse this week. *sigh***

**First time with a Darcy POV. I kind of liked it. ;) **

**Karen is just worthless. She is obviously only in this story for people to dump on her...not sure if she'll be keeping her job much longer...**

**I wanted to set up some animosity between Darcy and Alice because I'm evil. And because I think it naturally follows. Alice is kind of Bruce-oriented. She needs to figure out how to be "just girl", and I think Darcy's apparent annoyance is going to be a major catalyst there. **

**Also, you know I wrote Bruce's POV that way for a reason. No Hulk out. There's a reason. THERE'S ALWAYS A REASON! **

**And in case you didn't catch it...Clint got a package from France... *DOT DOT DOT***

**Another big thing I need to address is time. I need some time to get ahead on these chapters, so I'm going to take two weeks off from updating. I'll be back bright and early on January 2. I hope you'll all bear with me. I need to get ahead on some chapters and spend some time with my family this week. I hope to have a Christmas oneshot for you next week, so be on the lookout for that. I won't leave you with nothing at all. **

**Also, if you haven't already, check out my new story, "While There's Something Left To Save". It's rated M for adult content, so keep that in mind before reading it. **

**So, as always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, but I do own Alice and Karen. **

**Review! Please! I love you all!**

**Follow/Favorite if you feel so inclined!**


	8. Now or Nevermore

**A/N at the end. :) Song for this chapter is 'Afterlife' by Ingrid Michaelson. Warnings: Language, probably. **

* * *

><p><strong>Alice<strong>

"GIRL NO PLAY FAIR," Hulk grumbled from the floor of the training room.

"Excuse me? You tried to spike that weighted ball at my head! Talk about not playing fair!" she replied, tossing the ball up in the air and blasting it with a gamma bolt. It exploded into shredded rubber and sand, leaving a smell like burning tires in the air.

He made a few grumbly sounds before stopping and peering at her intently, his green eyes flashing. Alice could practically see the gears turning in his mind. "WHY GIRL NO SEE HULK? NO SEE PUNY BANNER?"

_Oh no…_

She took a staggering breath. "I was worried you'd ask that…"

"GIRL SAID SHE LIKE HULK."

"I DO like you."

"YOU NO SEE HULK. NO ONE SEE HULK. THERE IS ONLY PUNY BANNER…"

"Don't call him that," she chastised.

Hulk snorted, "HE IS PUNY."

"Compared to you, so am I. Why am I not 'Puny Girl?'"

Hulk shook his head. "YOU JUST GIRL. MY GIRL."

She couldn't help but smile at that. How could she not? "Wanna play some more?"

He nodded emphatically, jumping up to lumber over to the far wall. He picked up another one of the weighted balls and spiked it towards her, off to the side this time. She shot it with a gamma bolt, causing it to explode into a shower of sparks. Every time she did it, the Hulk grinned widely. It was kind of cute.

Bruce had done surprisingly well with his self-control. She figured he must have honed his skills since he'd been on the run. He'd been back a month and she barely had to do anything anymore. Once in a while, she had to calm him down or keep him calm, but it wasn't anything like it was before.

It was kind of sad how her training sessions with the Other Guy went better than their couples therapy seemed to be going.

At least it seemed that way to her…

* * *

><p><strong>Later…<strong>

No one was talking.

She and Bruce were seated in Dr. Xavier's office, about an hour into their 2 hour therapy session.

If anything, they got along WORSE than they had before they had started. At least before, every little thing they said wasn't scrutinized and dissected without mercy.

Dr. Xavier said it was normal for there to be a lot of tension since things were getting dredged up and resolved. Kind of like setting a broken bone after it had already started to heal.

"I'll repeat myself," Xavier said impatiently, "What do YOU, either of you, think is wrong with your relationship?"

The silence was deafening.

Alice didn't know what to say. There were lots of things that were WRONG, but she couldn't bring herself to talk about any of them. The silence was making her want to start blabbing, though.

"I…" Bruce spoke up, "I know there is something wrong…but I don't know what it is. I can't tell you specifically…but I know it's there."

"Thank you, Bruce. I know that was difficult for you to admit," Xavier said genuinely.

_What did he admit? That there is something wrong? No shit, Sherlock, that's why we're here…so speak up, Vorso and tell him what's wrong. _

She couldn't, though. The words stuck in her throat.

_THIS is the fucking problem. _

Alice sniffed loudly before speaking, "I—I guess I dislike that he used to cancel our plans all the time. That wasn't what was wrong with our relationship, though…more like a pet peeve, or an annoyance."

Xavier raised his eyebrows.

_Not EXACTLY what I wanted to say, but at least it's a start._

Bruce protested, "I have NEVER cancelled our plans! Never!"

Alice hunched her shoulders, "You did it all the time…"

"WHEN?"

"When we'd make plans to go do something. The time to go do it would roll around and you'd be all, 'Wanna stay home?' So, we'd stay home."

Bruce's face was starting to turn red; he had a look of utter confusion on his face. "No, NO…NO! I'd ask if you wanted to stay home, you'd say 'YES' and then, we'd stay home."

"But I DIDN'T want to stay home. Obviously, I'd rather go out once in a while than stay home all the time like some kind of hermit."

"How would I know that, Alice? How? You never told me that you'd rather go out!"

"Well, I could tell that you didn't want to. And I didn't want to make you do something you were uncomfortable with."

The louder Bruce got, the quieter Alice got.

"Well, of COURSE I didn't want to! I HATE going out. But I'd do it if it meant spending time with you. I always have fun with you, but it's hard for me to get out and go. If you had ever said that you wanted to go out, we would have."

Alice was silent, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't…" he started and stopped, "Don't apologize for something you feel…"

She didn't know what else to say if she couldn't say she was sorry.

They were silent again.

"What did you learn from that conversation, Bruce?" Xavier asked, folding his hands.

"That she lied to me when I asked her if she wanted to stay home."

"Alice?"

She set her jaw, hurt by the accusation, "I didn't lie…well, I did. But it was only because I didn't want him to be uncomfortable going out, or feel bad because he made me stay in…"

Xavier raised his eyebrows, nodding as if each statement were a great epiphany or something. Alice glanced over at Bruce, who was somewhere between fuming and indignant. Indignantly fuming. He had crossed his leg and was bouncing it rapidly. The siphon wasn't anything she couldn't handle, but she could tell he was a touch past perturbed.

"Well...I learned that Alice is a doormat," Xavier said in a matter-of-fact tone. He looked pleased with himself for the revelation.

She frowned, "Hey…I am NOT a doormat."

"Do you deny it?"

She really couldn't, now that she thought about it.

"Have you always been this way?"

"Not to my recollection… I don't know…maybe?"

"Remember last week when I asked the two of you to speak your truth all the time?"

Alice nodded. How could she forget? It started out fine, but it grew to be annoying and time consuming. With Bruce calmly reminding her to 'speak her truth' every time he didn't like the answer she gave.

Well...to be perfectly honest, it was difficult to be perfectly honest all the time. She never realized the web of illusion she'd woven over herself.

Bruce had an easier time of it and each time they spoke, it usually culminated with HER being unable to control HER temper and Bruce calmly reminding her to 'speak her truth'.

In retrospect, she might have been over reacting just a bit. A tiny bit.

"I would like for you to speak your truth now, Alice."

She frowned, "I don't know what you want me to say."

"I believe you DO know."

"Are you in my head?" she whispered. Even though Xavier had promised that he'd stay out of their heads unless he asked their permission first, she always asked. It was a dead giveaway that she was hiding something, though.

"No," he sighed.

She slumped down in the seat. "I guess it probably started with Zeke. He was a manipulator, and he was good at getting his way…I guess…I mean…" she sighed heavily. "I don't know…am I just blaming someone else for my own problems?"

"Do you think Zeke deserves the blame for this?"

"Well…I never had a problem with it before him. BUT, it's been a while since I was with him, so I should have gotten over and not brought it into this relationship."

"Right. When would you have done that, Alice?"

She stammered slightly. She hated it when he put her on the spot like this. She never knew if he was being serious or rhetorical.

"I—I don't know. I sort of jumped into the relationship with Bruce…I guess we should have waited…" she sighed audibly, "I was just…I liked him and I wanted to be with him…"

"That's all well and good. BUT it's not fair to bring your baggage from one relationship into the next… Do you think Bruce is a manipulator?"

"No," she answered quickly. "He's different. He's not doing it because he wants me to respond in a certain way. I'm just…pre-emptively placating him."

"Well, DON'T, if you're just going to hold it against me…" Bruce grumbled.

She sighed, biting her lip to keep the tears from flowing. If anything, it just made it worse.

"Oh, Alice…please don't cry…I'm sorry…"

She shook her head, "It's…It's okay, Bruce."

"Is it?" asked Xavier.

"Yes."

"Because if you tell him it's okay, he's going to think that his behavior was justified."

"Please don't talk about HIM as if HE isn't here…" Bruce muttered under his breath.

"Okay…it's not okay," she acquiesced.

"Tell him. Speak your truth."

"I accept your apology, but it's not okay, Bruce."

"Tell him why…"

"It's not okay because your statement was hurtful. I wasn't trying to hold anything against you; I was simply expressing my true feelings about this topic. There was no need for you to take offense. Unless you feel you are at fault."

"Bruce?"

He pursed his lips, "Alice, I acknowledge that your confession was difficult, and I thank you for speaking your truth. To speak MY truth, I do feel I am somewhat to blame. I might have let my own wants and desires cloud my judgment of the situation."

She nodded, "Thank you, Bruce."

"Is there anything else you'd like to say now, Alice?"

"Umm…I would like…in the future…to go out with you more, Bruce."

"Alright, Alice, to continue down this path, where would you suggest Bruce takes you?"

"I dunno…" she shrugged.

"Alice…" Xavier chastised.

_God, what the hell does he want from me?_

"I DON'T!" she insisted.

"Alice you do."

She huffed. "Okay, how about to Ikea? We need to go get bookshelves for the spare room."

It was true. They did. Maybe not the most romantic thing in the world, but it was the only thing she could think of.

Bruce sighed heavily, muttering something about Ikea under his breath.

She sat back on the couch jarringly, crossing her arms. She hardened her expression, setting her jaw and staring at the carpet.

"What? I can't express distaste for Ikea?" asked Bruce.

"What's wrong with Ikea, PRAY TELL?" she asked haughtily.

He shook his head, "Fine. We'll go. If that's what you want to do, by George, we'll do it."

"No. I don't want to go now…See?" she turned to Xavier, "THIS is what he does whenever I suggest something."

"What? What am I doing, exactly?"

"You make that face."

"What face?"

"The one you're making right now…"

His eyebrows were knit, his lips pursed slightly. It was a look of distaste. Extreme distaste. Like he'd just swallowed a fly or something.

"This is just my normal face."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll believe it. It's the only one I ever see. THAT'S for sure."

"Alice. Bruce. Sarcasm and hyperbole are unwelcome guests in this room," Xavier reminded them gently.

She crossed her legs and folded her arms in front of her.

"And now, Alice, you're closing yourself off. Open yourself, use open body language."

"I don't want to. I want to be closed off."

"That's never going to fix anything. You have to be open with Bruce if you're ever going to fix this."

"Maybe there's nothing to fix."

She heard Bruce inhale sharply.

"If you really believe that, we shouldn't even be here," Xavier said calmly.

_Do I believe that? _

She glanced over at Bruce, who still looked indignant, but something had changed about him. His eyes. His eyes were pleading with her.

_No. No, I don't. What I believe is that I love that man. Regardless of any of these little issues. Am I really going to break up with him over that face? It's actually kind of cute. _

She shook her head. "No, I don't believe that. I apologize for my outburst." She uncrossed her arms and legs and sat up straight.

"We can go to Ikea, Alice. If that's what you want, I'll do it."

"No. Let's think of something we'd both like."

"Alright, I'm sorry to cut this dialogue short, but we're running out of time. I think for one, you should put the apartment renovations on hold for the time being. Put it on the back burner."

They both nodded. It made sense.

"My assignment for the both of you WAS going to be to find out 3 new things about the other person, new things that you didn't know previously. Share things that you wouldn't normally share with anyone else."

He paused, as if waiting for them to argue or something.

"However, in light of recent discussion, I'm going to add to it. I think you two should be doing things together. I also feel that you never REALLY went through the dating phase in your relationship. You went straight from courting to living together, skipping a very important step. So, Bruce, I want you to plan a minimum of 3 dates. 3 outings away from Avengers tower that will help the two of you grow closer. On each date, I'd like for you to find out at least one new fact about the other. Alice, I want YOU to communicate your likes and dislikes to Bruce. Everything that comes to mind, I want you to vocalize to him, regardless of importance and especially things that you would normally keep to yourself."

Alice almost groaned. She was SO BAD at communicating her dislikes.

He looked between the two of them before continuing, "I know you've been in therapy for almost a month now, but I really think we made the most progress today. It might not feel like it, but today was huge."

_Yeah…TONS of progress. We argued about IKEA and I complained about him never taking me out. I think we're one wacky friend away from an NBC sitcom. _

They said their goodbyes and left his office. Bruce held the doors open and constantly tried to catch her eye on the way out.

"I can feel you looking at me."

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that we couldn't have possibly made any progress today. All I did was complain about you never taking me anywhere."

"Well, at least you said SOMETHING. It's something I can work with. Until now, you've just been nodding and saying okay…okay…okay…you sounded like a broken record," he chuckled nervously. "I want to be what you need, Alice. Just TELL me what you need."

She felt tears building up in her eyes. "Bruce…"

"Don't you dare apologize either. I know it's hard for you."

"I don't want you to think I'm being selfish."

"It's okay to be selfish once in a while, Alice. It really is."

They were out by the car now. One of Tony's many vehicles that he'd graciously let them borrow. And by graciously, Alice meant that he'd threatened their lives if something so much as scratched it. No pressure.

Bruce opened the driver's side door for her before running around to sit in the passenger seat.

"Bruce…to speak my truth…" she began, once they were on the road again.

He looked over at her, raptly attentive.

"I don't know what I need," she admitted quietly.

He reached over to squeeze her knee, since both hands were occupied driving. "Not to sound completely cheesy, but…we can figure that out together."

She dropped one hand from the steering wheel to clasp his briefly.

The rest of the drive was spent in relative silence. But it was a comfortable silence and Alice felt good about their relationship for the first time in a long time. She no longer felt like they were desperately trying to catch each other. It still felt out of control, but at least they were together.

She parked the car in the garage of Stark Tower.

"Thank you for driving me," he said, smiling.

She chuckled, "No problem, it was on the way…"

He smiled weakly. "I—uh…I'm sorry, Alice."

She frowned, "For what?"

"For…leaving."

She felt tears welling up again. She pushed them down, forcing herself to keep calm. "You already apologized. I've forgiven you. Don't worry about it," she said thickly, unable to meet his gaze.

"You're supposed to vocalize your feelings," he reminded her gently. "You're just dodging…"

"Okay…you don't have to keep apologizing. It makes me feel like I'VE done something wrong," she blurted.

"Why?"

"I dunno, I feel guilty, I guess."

"Why?" he repeated. "Why should that make you feel guilty? I've done wrong by you. It makes me feel better to apologize."

She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes. She couldn't keep talking about this with him. They would have to move past it eventually. But she knew she couldn't tell him that. If only he'd figure out a different way to apologize.

"Maybe instead of apologizing with your words, apologize with your actions," she suggested. "No offense, but if you keep saying you're sorry, the word's going to lose meaning."

She took a step closer to him, enveloping him in a hug. It was nice. He smelled good. She missed this. So much. She never wanted it to end.

"I love you, Bruce," she whispered.

"I love you, Alice."

"I need to go up to Darcy's…talk to you later?"

He leaned back against the car. "Yeah, I'll talk to you later…" She stopped when she realized he wasn't coming with her. "Coming?"

He shook his head. "I need a minute…"

She frowned, worried.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he smiled. "Just thinking."

"Don't let me keep you," she teased.

She made for the elevator, pressing her thumb to the fingerprint scanner.

* * *

><p><strong>Bruce<strong>

_Apologize with your actions. Apologize with your actions. _

_ I wish I was better at this._

_ Idiot, if you were better at this, you wouldn't be in therapy. _

_ Talking to yourself accomplishes nothing. _

He waited what seemed like a significant amount of time, giving the elevator time to make it to the suites before pressing his thumb to the scanner himself.

He didn't engage JARVIS, deep in thought about what he could do for their first 'date'.

Honestly, the idea wasn't as abhorrent to him as he thought it would be. Xavier was right, even if it DID take him a month to come out with it. They HAD skipped major milestones. Now, whether or not they could actually go back and hit those was up for discussion, but Bruce thought it was worth a shot.

He came back up to the lab, walking back to his office without so much as a word to anyone.

Tony was here, so he knew it was only a matter of time before—

"Knock, knock," Tony said in addition to performing the action.

"Onomatopoeia. And here I thought sarcasm was the lowest form of wit," Bruce said dryly.

"Ouch. Well, that answers my next question…how was therapy?" Tony asked cheerfully.

Bruce smirked, "It actually went well…I'm just on top of my game I guess." He picked up a couple of his notebooks and walked out to the main part of the lab.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not sure it's any of your business…"

"No, I guess it's not, since we're in the workplace. Boundaries are important…" he paused for a moment before nodding, "Okay, I punched out. NOW we can talk about your therapy."

"Well, unfortunately, I'm still on the clock."

"AND this is why you're in therapy," Tony shook his head. "Bringing your work home with you…"

"Is there any real reason you wanted to talk to me? Experiments? Lab results?"

"Yeah…actually…Did…uh…Alice say anything about me?" Tony asked hopefully.

"Hmm…let me think…yeah, come to think of it…even though SHE and I are in couples therapy, we DO talk quite a lot about you, Tony. Because you too are a major part of our relationship," Bruce quipped dryly.

"Aww…that means a lot, Buddy…"

"But seriously…it's a 3 hour round trip drive…surely I came up once or twice…like maybe she said something like, 'Oh, if only Tony would…THEN I could forgive him!'"

"Yeah, actually…now that I think about it. She said, 'Oh, if only Tony would leave me alone and stop acting like a complete psycho, THEN I could forgive him in my own time!'"

"You know, Bruce…to speak MY truth…that was really hurtful. BUT, I'm willing to forgive you for your assholery."

"Shut up," Bruce commanded, pointing briefly towards Tony. "That worked. I am NOT ashamed."

"Oh…OKAY."

"You might just have to give it time. She can't stay mad at you forever."

Tony pouted, "She might."

"Yeah, she might."

"You are NOT helping. You're supposed to reassure me."

"But that would be a lie. Do you want me to lie to you, Tony?"

"I want you to tell me it's going to be okay!"

"Fine. It's going to be okay."

"You're lying to me."

"Yes, I am."

Tony huffed, annoyed.

"Hey…what happened to all those samples I had shipped in? I thought they would have been here by now…" Bruce asked. He had been expecting to find new flora samples waiting for him when he got back. There were none.

"I didn't see any samples of anything. Hell, you didn't get any mail, save for the stuff on your desk that Karen dropped by."

Bruce frowned. "I contacted the companies and I got tracking numbers on all of them…they were all shipped and apparently LOST in the mail?"

"C'est la vie. Maybe you shouldn't have run off to Idaho."

He rolled his eyes. "Or MAYBE it's your incompetent assistant."

"Well, the last time I hired an incompetent assistant, it worked out PRETTY well for you, so…"

"So…what?"

"So…all my previous hires have turned out VERY well."

"I think your luck ran out."

"Yeah, well…Idaho."

"You can't just…say 'Idaho' and expect to win all the arguments from now on! I feel GUILTY enough as it is without you bringing it up constantly. And you know what? I didn't even RUN to Idaho directly. It wasn't as if I left the tower and thought…'hmm, I think I'll run to Idaho…' and you asshole! You got me distracted on a tangent!"

Tony snickered, "Well, you DID bring up a valid point. You didn't run directly to Idaho. You ran to South Dakota to live with the hippies. Much better."

"Hey…they were nice people!"

"I'm sure they were. Did they share their stash?"

Bruce chuckled, "They offered."

"And you didn't partake?"

"If my resolve didn't crumble in college, it isn't going to now."

"Wait…you've never…PARTAKEN?"

"No…I figured the last thing we need is for the Hulk to have the munchies…that could get expensive."

"No…a frat house with the munchies…THAT'S expensive. The Hulk with the munchies, that's just ridiculous."

"Is there anything else you need?"

"Not really. I needed some help with my Alice problem, but I guess I'll just keep throwing money at the issue and hope it resolves itself."

"Because that's worked so WELL for you in the past."

"It has!" Tony argued.

"Two words. Giant. Bunny."

"You said you'd NEVER bring that up again!"

"Well, you said you'd never bring up Idaho again."

"Fine. Idaho and Giant bunny are OFF the table!" he stuck out his hand.

"Agreed," Bruce shook it.

"Awesome. You wanna come help me blow something up?"

"Well, I actually do need to catalogue the flora in my greenhouse…" he trailed off, looking up at Tony's hopeful grinning face. "Yeah, okay. Let's blow something up."

Tony practically jumped in the air before leading him excitedly over to his area of the lab.

* * *

><p><strong>Alice<strong>

She brought out a bowl of popcorn and two mugs of hot chocolate. She handed one of the mugs to Steve and sat down on the couch.

She turned on the TV and they settled in for their second Doctor Who marathon that week.

They were halfway through their first episode when Darcy hurried into the apartment.

"Steve, Alice…move over, it's the premier of 'The Walking Dead and I'm watching it…"

Alice frowned, "Darcy…we were in the middle of watching something…"

"Yeah, Doctor Who. Which you've seen a MILLION times. This is brand new and I've been looking forward to it all week."

"So DVR it. I have company…" she gestured to Steve.

"No way, VORSO. Go to Steve-O's place and watch the Doctor. I've got a date with Daryl. Like I've been telling you. For the last week. Sorry you weren't paying attention."

"Who wasn't paying attention? You can just DVR it, OR watch it in your room! Oh marvels of the 21st century!"

"Look. TWD is coming on in 4 minutes. I WILL be watching it from the comfort of MY couch in MY living room. YOU and STEVE can either go watch Doctor Who in your room or at his place."

"We can watch it at my apartment, Alice. It's not a big deal."

"This isn't about a TV show, STEVE! And this IS a big deal. Know why? Because Queen Darcy is making it a big deal!"

Steve shifted uncomfortably, looking down at his shoes.

"Whoa…" Darcy paused the TV. "There is NO WAY you are picking a fight on the mid-season premiere of the Walking Dead. There is NO WAY!"

"I didn't pick it, YOU DID. What did I do this time, Darcy? Did I forget your half-birthday? The anniversary of your first trip to Starbucks? Or did you have a particularly ROUGH day at the lab? Did you get a paper cut from a file? Did your headphones stop working?"

"Actually, my headphones AREN'T working. Because SOMEONE washed them in the washing machine!"

"Yeah, well…you don't DESERVE working headphones!" Alice snapped triumphantly, hands on her hips.

Darcy huffed indignantly, "Well…remember how your flat iron stopped working? I dropped it on the tile floor and broke the plates off. I just snapped em back on and stuck it in the drawer," she mimed the action flippantly. "And you've been running around with FRIZZ-HEAD ever since!"

"YOU told me it looked good! That you couldn't even NOTICE!"

"Well, I DID notice. It looks AWFUL!"

Steve slowly covered his eyes with his hand.

"You're…you're SO RUDE!" Alice sputtered.

"Let me TELL you something about rude, Vorso. Rude is coming here to live with me indefinitely and not bothering to call and give me notice. Rude is not listening to a WORD I say to you unless it's about Bruce or if it pertains to you in some way. RUDE is inviting someone over without asking me and hijacking the TV on the night I've been talking about all week."

Alice narrowed her eyes.

"OH, and let me add, RUDE is living with someone else, someone who, out of the goodness of her heart, opened her home to you, and all you can do is complain about how I keep house."

"YOU DON'T KEEP HOUSE!" Alice exploded. "You live like a damn PIG, Darcy! If you were simply untidy, I wouldn't say anything, but your house is FILTHY! The cleaning service won't even come in here, what the FUCK does that tell you?"

"Tells me that you are too uptight and you need to get LAID, that's what it tells me. Why don't you go jump on Bruce's DICK so you can act like a normal person again?"

Steve started to stand up to leave.

"SIT DOWN!" Both girls yelled at him. He stayed put.

"You have a LOT of nerve…when's the last time..." Alice fumed and sputtered.

"My love life is none of your business!" Darcy countered.

"That's because there IS NO BUSINESS! Hey, Darcy, ever wonder why you can't find someone? Maybe because you're too finicky about who you date! And someone who has so little to offer shouldn't be so picky!"

"Oh, I'M too finicky? Really? Maybe I should follow your example, and wander downstairs to the lab and sleep with the first person I find there?"

"Leave Bruce out of this…" Alice seethed.

Darcy laughed without humor, "Right. Let's see how long that lasts. You can't go five minutes without talking about him."

She snorted, "I'll do you one better, I'll go the REST OF MY LIFE without talking to YOU at all. You won't have to hear about BRUCE or ME ever again. In fact, I'll start looking for an apartment right away, so you won't have to worry about me cleaning up your FILTH anymore!"

"AWESOME! I can't WAIT for that day! I fucking DREAM of the day that I can sit down in my apartment and not SEE YOU HERE!"

"Right, and one day, we'll find you dead in a pile of garbage!"

"What a WAY TO GO!" Darcy threw her hands up in the air.

Alice stomped over to the sink, dumping her mostly untouched hot chocolate down the sink. "I'll be back for my stuff! C'mon, Steve."

Steve looked between the feuding women and quickly took his own mug to the sink, following Alice out the door.

"I am not leaving with her, I'm just leaving. My home is out there…I am NOT picking sides…"

"I know, Rogers, just go!" Darcy sighed exasperatedly, waving him along.

Once out in the hall, Alice shook her head. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Steve…"

"I'm still not sure what I saw…" he said absently. "But, if you need somewhere to stay…" he began.

"Thanks, but I think I should probably find my own place."

She knew he was only being polite. And she was certain that even though Maria was very understanding about the 4 month search for Bruce, she might not be so understanding about Alice bunking with Steve.

This blow out had been a long time coming. It wasn't that she WANTED to fight with her best friend, but she could feel the tension growing in the apartment for the last few weeks and was kind of relieved it had finally happened.

She guessed she could be a little bit self-involved, but she DID have a lot going on. And Darcy was being overly sensitive. This WASN'T just about a TV show.

She left Steve at his apartment and stalked down to the lab to talk to Tony. She'd have to cast aside her cold indifference.

She NEEDED her own apartment.

* * *

><p><strong>Thomas<strong>

"So part one of the mission is accomplished…" Thomas spoke aloud to the calico cat sunbathing in the window. "and part two is practically complete as well…"

Yes, Banner was back in New York. He and Alice were in therapy. Everything would be back to normal soon enough.

"Onward to part 3. Callie, this is the fun part. This is where I excel…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>

**Wow. I am so sorry I haven't updated this before now. I hate to make excuses, but if you've been following my tumblr, you know my Dad passed away a week ago. It was rough and sudden, and no one was prepared. He's been sick, but we thought we had more time. I guess you always want more time no matter what... :( Anyway, the past few days have been hell. The only bright spot, was this story. I took some time to fix a bunch of stuff that I wasn't thrilled about and I hope I'll be able to turn out more quality chapters for you guys from now on. You can expect more fluff from here on out, because that's what I need in my life right now. More fluff, less angst. Angst is fun and all, but I'm sick of writing it. **

**Anyway, I'm so sorry about being so long with this update. I hope you forgive me and that I didn't lose anyone in the process! I worked hard to get this ready for you. *lurvs* **

**Lots of stuff happens in this chapter...we check in with Alice and the Other Guy...who has missed her. (d'aww) Probably not the rage filled green monster that you've become used to, but...*shrugs* I needed fluffy Hulk. *hearts* Hulk sized hugs would be awesome right now, so there you go. **

**Couples Therapy...hmmm...I decided to start a month in...simply because I didn't want to bore you. The "speak your truth" stuff was something my wacked out shrink tried with me when I was an angst-ridden teen with emotional problems. It actually worked, so that's where that came from. I've never been in any couples therapy save my premarital counseling with the hubs, so I didn't know what really happens during those sessions. I hope I winged it well enough. **

**Science Bros. Yay. I had fun writing Tony in this chapter. I hope it shows. **

**And Darcy. I hate to say it, I had fun writing their little blow out. "You don't deserve working headphones" is the worst thing I can think of to say to someone... There's no real motive here, other than I felt some tension building between Alice and Darcy at the beginning of this story and kind of went with it. They might be best buds, but that doesn't meant they always get along. Plus, Alice needs her own place, amiright? She's never lived alone. Time to cut the cord, Alice. **

**Thomas. What the hell are you up to?**

**Anywho, love you guys. Missed you guys. Leave me some love in the reviews. **

**I don't own any part of the Marvel Universe, but I do own Alice and Thomas. Follow/Favorite/Review if you feel so inclined.**


	9. They're Just Old Light

**A/N at the end. :) Song for this chapter is 'Samson' by Regina Spektor. No warnings that I can think of, maybe mild language. This is fluff and cheese. Cheese and fluff. Cheesey fluff.**

* * *

><p><strong>Alice<strong>

"Did he say where he's taking you?" asked Jules, rifling through the dresses in Alice's closet.

"No…he just said to wear something nice…and to wear comfortable shoes."

"Did he say if you'd be inside or outside?" she asked, pulling a few out of the closet.

"Inside…which makes me think restaurant, but what about the comfortable shoes?" Alice inspected her meager shoe selection, unsure of what was actually considered a comfortable shoe.

"Maybe he's taking you on a walk afterwards. I mean, I wouldn't read too much into it. Bruce isn't that spontaneous, is he?" Jules rhetorically wondered aloud as she pulled out a particularly racy green dress. She held it up towards Alice, who wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Can I borrow this, then?"

"Knock yourself out," Alice chuckled as she pulled out the new navy blue dress she'd recently purchased. It was nice enough to be considered a cocktail dress, but comfortable enough to wear to brunch or something with a nice sweater or jacket. It had silver damask stamped on the sides and the length was around mid-thigh. "I think I'm going to wear this one. I have some silver ballet flats that would go with it."

"It's cute… I wish I had known. I have a clutch you could have borrowed, it would match this blue, I think…want me to call Happy? I'll make him bring it."

"No, you don't have to…" Alice protested, but Jules was already pulling out her phone and walking out to the living room with it pressed to her ear.

She sighed, sitting down on her bed and falling back onto the pillows. She was SO TIRED. And thankful for the brief interlude from her much appreciated, but very intense company.

She'd really tried to adopt a healthier sleep schedule, but JARVIS had been acting up lately. At random intervals throughout the night, he would start playing music at top volume. It had been going on for almost a week. And it was never nice, soothing music. Oh no…it never was.

It had started that first night with 'Love Shack' by the B-52s.

Last night, it had been 'Funky Town' by Lips, Inc.

The first night it had happened, she thought it was Tony playing a cruel prank. She'd stomped out into the common area to find everyone grumbling in the living room. Even Bruce had come out to see what was going on.

They'd all gone angrily up to the penthouse to find Tony furiously trying to override the command. Apparently, it wasn't his doing.

It had happened on random nights since then. For two nights in a row, nothing happened, and then for the previous four it had been nothing but annoying music at varying, but always eardrum blasting levels.

Every time it seemed the music was over, it would invariably start back up again. Sometimes, there would be an interval of 15-20 minutes, sometimes an hour, but it would always come back on, never ceasing until 5 or 6 in the morning.

Everyone was starting to slowly go insane. Jules had kindly offered her couch to Alice, at least until Tony got JARVIS figured out. She was seriously thinking about taking her up on the offer if she couldn't catch up on her sleep.

Now, here it was, the night of her date with Bruce and Alice had dark circles under her eyes, which were also red and bloodshot.

_Glamorous, _she thought bitterly.

She rose from the bed, deciding to go steep a cup of tea for herself while she waited for Jules to get off the phone. She was trying to describe the clutch to Happy, who was apparently failing miserably at finding it.

"Yes, I DO have a navy clutch. It should be in the drawer with the others," Jules rolled her eyes at Alice. "Navy IS blue…"

As the kettle was filling, Alice allowed herself to wonder where Bruce was taking her and to actually get excited about the evening. With JARVIS' musical malfunction taking up all of her time and energy (literally), she hadn't really been able to get properly excited about this evening. She WAS nervous, not because of typical "first date" reasons, but because of the nature of the evening itself. This was their chance to start over and Alice REALLY wanted to take full advantage.

"Dear one, are you SURE you're looking in the right place?" Jules asked in a falsely saccharine tone, indicating her growing irritation with the situation. She held the phone out and tapped the screen to enable the speakerphone.

"Babe, I'm looking in the drawer second from the floor, two shelves down from the doorway, beside your gold pumps," Happy recited dutifully. "The closest thing I have to navy is this dark green one. Forest? Jungle? I don't know. Some kind of biome…Taiga, maybe?"

Alice stifled a laugh.

"The taiga is BROWN, dear."

"Brown? I DO have something in Taiga, then…"

"Happy…" Jules warned.

"Nothing in Navy, Babe."

"Hmmm…" Jules was silent, apparently deep in thought. "Maybe I DON'T have a navy clutch after all…"

"Are you serious?" Happy exclaimed, "I've been busting my ass looking for some purse that doesn't even exist?"

"Clutch. Not purse."

"Same difference."

"A clutch has no—"

"Imaginary clutches and imaginary purses are the same thing, Julia."

Alice snorted, pouring half and half into her now steeped tea. If nothing else, this was entertaining. She often wondered how Happy and Jules got along as a couple. Now she knew.

"I love you, Harold."

"I love you too, JULIA. Don't call me Harold."

"Yes dear…" she ended the call, grinning. "Sorry, Alice. No clutch."

"It's okay. I'm sure I have something I can use."

She actually knew that Darcy had a silver clutch that would go beautifully with the shoes, but like hell she was going to ask her. She settled on a powder blue one that she was pretty sure she took to prom. It had somehow survived all her many moves.

She placed the clutch on the bed with the dress she'd chosen and the shoes. She yawned again and decided another cup of tea was in order. She walked back out to the kitchen, Jules hot on her heels. While the kettle was heating, she looked around her "home".

Her new apartment was nice enough. She'd tacked up a few tapestries and put up her curtains, but that was all she'd had the desire to do. Other than those few decorations, everything was the token beige that whoever Tony had hired to decorate these condos had chosen.

Alice was currently trying to get that new paint smell out. She had taken to lighting incense whenever she was home, which helped somewhat. But, whenever she left to go anywhere, the apartment went back to smelling like paint.

She sniffed, looking around. "Does it smell like paint in here to you?"

Jules frowned, she'd probably been in the middle of another one-sided conversation, but she tolerated Alice's one track mind very well. Probably a testament to her work with Tony through the years.

"It's not bad, really. Barely noticeable. If you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have noticed it at all."

Alice smiled faintly. The kettle started to whistle.

She missed Darcy.

Not that she'd admit it out loud.

Jules was nice and all, but she was what Darcy would call a 'yes-man'. She agreed with or said whatever she could to make whoever she was talking to feel better.

Sometimes, Alice needed someone to be straight with her. Darcy was blunt to a fault.

Although, Jules was better at reading body language than anyone else she knew. She could sometimes pick up on Alice's feelings about something before SHE even realized how she felt.

"I wonder if I should wear my pretty underwear or not…" Alice contemplated aloud, stirring her tea.

"It's the first date. I don't think he should get sex on the first date," Jules said flatly.

"Well no…" She actually hadn't said ANYTHING about sex, "I just feel more confident when I have pretty ones on…"

"So wear the pretty ones."

"They're not as supportive, though."

"Alice. Nothing on you needs support. Everything defies gravity."

She scoffed, "That's not true…"

"Just saying, I would KILL to have your…well, anything…" Jules insisted.

Alice chuckled, "Just wait til I'm done using it, please…"

She raised an eyebrow at Alice, looking confused.

"You know…don't cut it off me until I'm done with it…"

Another blank look.

"You said you'd kill for it…"

A blank look for a moment before clarity. "OH, okay. Didn't get what you meant…"

_Darcy would have. _

_ Yes, but I'm mad at Darcy right now. She said some hurtful things. _

_ True things, though. _

_ Shut up. _

_ Great, now I'm arguing with myself. _

Alice gulped down her tea, wincing as she did. She walked back to the bedroom and pulled a matching set of lacy underwear out of her top drawer. She shut the door to her room and changed into her outfit.

She opened the door to let Jules back in, turning to look at herself in the full length mirror. "How does it look?"

"Looks great. Bruce's eyes are going to pop out of his head."

She shrugged, "I guess…"

"They WILL."

She smiled at her reflection. She checked her time, she had about 45 minutes til he would be picking her up.

"I need to do my hair and makeup…"

Alice spent the better part of 30 minutes with her hair and makeup, making sure she looked flawless, or as close to it as she could manage, given the circumstances. Her hair was growing out, but it was still really short, so there wasn't much to do with it. Jules sat on the side of the tub giving her advice every so often.

Alice sat on the toilet lid, applying makeup with her compact mirror.

"Why don't you use the big mirror? You have those really nice bright lights around it…"

Alice looked up at the object in question. "I dunno…it gives me the willies. Feels like someone is watching me…"

Jules made a face and stood to inspect it. "Who's watching you? Tony? Well…I wouldn't put it past him…"

"No, I don't think it's Tony. I just…don't like it for some reason."

"Thomas?"

_Jules, your tact is astounding. _

"No…not Thomas. Like I said…it's just a weird feeling."

It wasn't just that mirror. It was all of them. It seemed like ever since she'd gotten back to Avengers Tower, she'd been unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched. Every time she brought it up to someone, they reacted in pretty much the same way that Jules was acting.

It was probably just something weird that would pass. She'd gone through these phases before as well. It was always mirrors. She'd never really liked them. Pops used to tell her about how she hated them when she came to live with him and Grams. They'd taken them all down and put them in storage. All of them except for the bathroom ones.

She assumed it had something to do with her early childhood years that were now astoundingly blank since Dr. Xavier had blocked off her memory of them a few months before.

She'd just resigned herself to using mirrors only if it were absolutely necessary.

Alice slipped her shoes on with a few minutes to spare. She made sure she had everything she needed in her purse as she waited for Bruce to arrive.

"He's picking you up at the door? How CUTE is that?" Jules squealed.

At 6:30 on the dot, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll let myself out," Jules whispered, as if she were trying to hide or something.

Alice rolled her eyes and opened the door to see Preston standing on the other side. She was surprised.

She looked around before he addressed her.

"Dr. Banner is waiting for you already at the location. He sends his apologies, but there were some things that he had to take care of there."

"Oh…okay…" Alice waved to Jules and followed Preston out into the hallway.

Once they were in the car, she sat in the back and bounced her legs nervously.

She tried to figure out where they were going based on geographical clues, but in the end she had no idea. She was utterly surprised when the car stopped where it did.

"The New York Aquarium?" she asked, bewildered.

Preston nodded, "I'll escort you inside…"

She walked beside him while they made their way inside the aquarium. She'd never been here, but had wanted to go on many occasions. It looked like it was after hours, there were only attendants rushing around, no tourists or anything.

She followed Preston through the darkened hallways until she saw Bruce standing nervously at the end of the hall.

Her face broke out into a grin when she looked at him. He had on a nice shirt, a blue one. It was ironed, pressed and tucked in. As were his slacks. She was actually impressed. He was clean shaven, which only happened once in a blue moon. His hair was still very short. He looked very put together.

He turned when he heard their footsteps. He smiled nervously at Alice and thanked Preston for his help. He waited until the driver/bodyguard had walked away before speaking.

"Hi," he said, beaming.

"Hi yourself."

"You look…breathtaking, Alice."

She blushed, "I don't …not really…"

"Well…there's actually never been a time where you didn't absolutely stun me into silence."

"Is THAT why you're so quiet?"

"Partly…"

"I'll have to ugly it up a bit, then. I enjoy talking with you," she smirked.

He laughed and offered her his arm, which she took. He led her through the doors and into the observation area of the aquarium.

It was significantly brighter in here, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the bright colored fish and well lit tank. The tank itself was huge and extended a long way over the walkway, like a tunnel.

"Wow…" she gazed up at all the fish. "I have to ask, Bruce. Why the aquarium?"

"Well…" he began. "I knew that neither of us had been here before…and I knew that we need to find things in common. So, I thought that since I like fish, I would bring you here to look at fish. Just to see if you also, like fish."

She grinned, "I do like fish, actually. I love watching them. It's…relaxing and all that. The way they just have their own little world in there…Not as big of one as it would be if they were in the ocean, but…it's still there. A world where none of this stuff matters. Just…fish stuff."

She turned back to Bruce, who was smiling at her crookedly. She blushed again, laughing. "I'm probably being weird, sorry. Just… running off at the mouth again… stop me, seriously."

"I like it when you run off at the mouth. There's lots of wisdom in your uncensored thoughts. I love that about you."

"Really? I always thought it was kind of stupid and annoying…"

"Not at all. Almost everything I've learned about you, I've learned from a rambling speech about something or other."

She took his arm again as they slowly walked down the corridor. "Like what?"

"Well, you and I pretty much have the same opinion of fish. Almost to the letter, actually."

"Really?"

"Yes, I love fish because they're content with their place in this world. You don't see a fish trying to jump up in the air to be a bird. Nope, you see them being the best fish they could be. They swim and are free and they're happy about it."

"There's a social critique in there somewhere, I'll bet."

"Me? A social critic? Never," he said facetiously.

"A fish trying to be a bird and you like them because they know their place?"

"Not exactly what I meant."

"What did you mean?"

"I mean…they're content. They're happy with themselves the way they are. They don't try to change some aspect about themselves. If any part of what fish are were to change, it would be catastrophic to that fish. You get what I mean? Fish politics being what it is, they don't have to compete further than the food chain for power."

"OH, I see. You think that people trying to alter themselves beyond what they are physically capable of is detrimental to their wellbeing. And the place they are is the place they stay and that's how they remain."

"Precisely."

"Like the way YOU tried to alter YOURSELF, so you could rank higher on the food chain?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You kind of secured yourself at the top of it. You could rule the world if you set your mind to it."

He snorted, "Nah, that's not for me."

"I know. And THAT'S one of the things I love about you."

"The truth is, Bruce…I'm kind of glad it happened."

"What?"

"The experiment, the Other Guy…"

"Really?" he stopped walking and looked at her.

"Well…I mean...I hate that it's so hard for you, but I don't think we would've ever met if things had been different. You'd have stayed at Culver and I would probably be married to Zeke by now. I think things happen for a reason. I'm glad you're in my life and I hope you're glad I'm in yours…"

Bruce smiled thoughtfully, "I guess I never thought of it that way…" He slipped his hand down to grasp hers. "I don't buy much into fate."

"I know. But I do."

"I know. Yet another thing I love about you."

She frowned, "Why? You, of empirical mind, admire my belief in something intangible?"

"YOU can look at something nonsensical and make sense of it. YOU can look at something physically ugly and find the beauty hidden within. YOU are an artist. YOU are a left brain thinker and YOU are a foreign animal to me. I admire YOU, Alice. And all the malarkey that comes with you."

"Malarkey, huh? That's a 5 dollar word."

"I've got a million of them," he joked.

"A 5 million dollar vocabulary…"

"Maybe not 5 million. Maybe just…2 million."

"So modest, Dr. Banner," she squeezed his hand.

They walked in silence for a few moments. She kept sneaking peeks at him, unsure if this was real or if she was just really, really tired. She half expected the fish to start swimming out alongside them, or to start singing or something.

"So, uh…how did you manage to get the aquarium to stay open for us?" she asked.

"I might have had Tony pull some strings."

"At what cost?" she chuckled.

"Oh, we have to name our firstborn after him whether it's a girl or a boy."

"Small price for such a romantic date."

"That's what I was thinking…completely worth it."

She grinned and looked down. "You're going to have a lot to live up to now, Banner."

"Really? And we're only about a half hour in…"

"There's more?"

"Maybe…" he smiled mischievously.

She smiled and brought his hand around her waist. She slipped hers around his as they continued walking. She peered into the big tank in front of them, noting a pretty tropical fish she didn't recognize.

"What is that?" she pointed to the fish.

"That is a…blue fish. It appears."

She rolled her eyes, "I thought you were a genius or something."

He gestured up and down his body, "I'm a Physicist, Jim. Not a Marine Biologist."

She giggled, "Nerd."

"Hey… at least Star Trek is scientifically sound. Unlike your 'Doctor Who'. What's he a Doctor of, anyway?"

"He's just 'The Doctor'. It's a title."

"I'm a doctor and it's a title I earned."

"He earned it as well."

"Doing what?"

"If you don't get it, you don't get it…" Alice sighed, wrapping both arms around him and briefly laying her head on his shoulder.

"Well, I'll try. I'll watch it. FOR YOU. I'll find out. FOR YOU. The things I do for you, Alice…"

She chuckled, "Yeah, I know. Watching a British TV show…sheesh. I'm such a mean girlfriend."

He stopped talking. She peered up at him. He was staring into the tank and trying to hide a smile.

"What?" she poked his stomach.

"Nothing…" he grabbed her hand and squeezed it before dragging her off down the corridor again.

"It's something…" she teased, poking him again.

"It's just… nice to hear you refer to yourself as my girlfriend again."

"Did I stop?"

"For a while, yes."

"Oh…I hadn't realized…" she frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Alice. I haven't really been acting very much like a boyfriend to you. I'm sorry for that…"

"Still…" she countered.

They were silent for a few moments.

Awkward moments.

Long, awkward moments.

"So…this assignment thing from Xavier…" she offered, hoping to break the ice.

"Right. One new piece of information about each other, each date…is it cheating if we just get that out of the way?"

"I don't think so. I happen to like that plan. It's very efficient of us."

"Efficiency. Not sure that's what Xavier was going for…" he chuckled.

"Who cares? He's not the boss of us…" she chided. "What were you thinking of…as far as…topics go?"

"I was thinking that perhaps we could talk about our fears?"

"Macabre choice, Dr. Banner."

"BUT it's something we don't really know about each other."

She shrugged. "I guess you're right. I don't know what you're scared of, besides the obvious things."

"Losing you is my number one fear…but you knew that."

She flushed slightly, nodding.

"However, I also have an irrational fear of…jellyfish…" he stopped in front of a tank. Alice turned to look. Inside were about a dozen purple, translucent jellyfish.

"Are you kidding?" she snorted, looking into the tank. "Those, right now? You're scared of those?"

"Ever been stung?"

"I've never been to the beach."

"Really?" he looked skeptical. "We live in New York. You can see the ocean if you drive over to it."

"I've seen the ocean, but I've never been to a beach. Florida, California, Virginia Beach, etc. Never been."

"Well…the reason I hate them, is that you could be playing in the water, minding your own business and one of those little…pecker-heads floats up and stings the crap out of you. And there's no warning. You have no idea when it's happening. All there is: Pain, surprise and fear of another attack…"

"Jellyfish?"

"Jellyfish."

"You know, they say you can pee on it and it won't hurt anymore."

"That's another thing…they sting you and they laugh while you're trying to piss on yourself. Damn jellyfish…"

"Bruce. I know, and you especially, SHOULD KNOW that jellyfish aren't vicious. The stings are a defense mechanism…and they certainly aren't capable of laughing at you."

"Hence the 'irrational' fear."

She chuckled.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Mirrors…" she said without thinking.

He frowned. "Mirrors?"

She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Why mirrors?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. Feels like someone's watching me…"

"Is this a new thing? Or a long deep-seated…"

"It's come and gone over the years. Pops says I was terrified of them when I came to live with them. That's why they don't have any in the house save for the bathrooms. I don't want to think about why I hate them. I'm sure it has something to do with—"

She stopped walking, looking into a tank without really seeing anything. She felt his hands on hers, pulling her arms open so he could hug her.

She slid her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. He was warm. Safe. She inhaled deeply, allowing his scent to permeate. He still smelled the same. Cloves, chemicals and bergamot. She felt her lips tug upwards into a smile. Bruce and his earl grey tea. Just like Captain Picard.

He changed the subject after that and they talked a lot as they walked through the aquarium. They had the building until 10pm, which was when they left and went out to the car that was waiting for them outside.

"Hungry?" asked Bruce.

"Yeah, actually," Alice grinned.

"I thought you might be, so I made reservations at Sorellina Marzia."

"Where's that?"

"Little Italy. It's a bistro. They have the best vegetarian lasagna. BUT, they have other things too. I thought you might like it…if not, we can go somewhere else…" he was starting to look worried towards the end of the sentence.

Alice giggled, "That's FINE, you DORK. Why wouldn't I like it?"

"I don't know…"

"What does Sorellina Marzia mean?"

"It means 'Little Sister Marzia', the owner named it after his younger sister."

"Cute."

They were seated in a tiny alcove at a small round table with two chairs. The lights were low, the candles were lit. It was actually very romantic.

The chef (and presumed owner) was the stereotypical big and tall man with the black mustache and the chef's hat. He seemed to know Bruce, which threw Alice for a loop because he'd never mentioned this place before. He'd mentioned he liked the lasagna, but she hadn't realized he'd been here THAT often.

"They know you here?"

"Yeah...I've been here a lot. It's quiet. It's clean. The food's good and it's one of the only places in the city with edible vegetarian lasagna."

Alice felt a pang of embarrassment when she recalled her own foray into vegetarian cooking.

She tried to laugh, but it came off weird. She could tell by the way Bruce's expression changed.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head and tried to smile. "Nothing."

"No, it's something. Your smile is fake."

"Put me on the spot, why don't ya?" she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I—I don't want to talk about it. We're having a nice time," Alice said, hoping that he'd drop it.

"No, tell me…"

Their waiter arrived, which saved her for the time being.

Bruce ordered "his usual", which she assumed was the vegetarian lasagna. She made a mental note to perfect that recipe. If nothing else, she'd be able to make him one perfect vegetarian meal that he could eat.

Alice ordered chicken and mushroom Alfredo.

She waited while Bruce conversed with the server in what she could only assume was Italian. He gestured to the archway to the alcove.

The server nodded and bowed as he left. He untied the cords that were holding some heavy velvet curtains in place. They swung down, closing them off from the rest of the bistro, which was not full, but had quite a few patrons all the same.

"Tell me," he demanded, as if they hadn't been interrupted.

Alice looked down at her lap.

"Please," he said more softly, reaching for her hand. "I'd really like to know…" he added, as if that weren't inherent.

"It's just…it's silly really…When you were talking about 'edible vegetarian lasagna', it made me think of all the times I failed spectacularly at making passable food for you…" she looked up into his searching eyes and suddenly felt even more embarrassed. "I'm sorry, it's… you weren't talking about that. I shouldn't have brought it up…" she felt like she was backtracking like crazy.

He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it, holding it in both hands for a moment.

"I'm so sorry about that, Alice."

"Oh, you don't have to…"

"I do. It's still bothering you."

"Bruce, it's really fine. It's silly, it's in the past and we're not supposed to be living in the past."

"It's not silly. I promise you, it's not silly. I hurt your feelings. I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," she smiled. "To speak my truth, I appreciate that you took the time to apologize."

He chuckled, "To speak MY truth, it's been a long time coming."

They were silent for a moment. Alice fiddled with the napkin ring before speaking again. "I'm going to learn, Bruce. I'll learn how to cook for you."

His gaze softened even more. "I don't deserve you," he whispered, kissing her hand again before placing it back down on the table. He didn't let go of it, though.

The server returned with their drinks, placing two glasses of red wine on the table, along with the bottle. Alice was surprised that he'd ordered wine.

"Complements of the chef," the server informed Bruce.

_OH, that makes sense._

"Tell him thank you," said Alice, smiling.

Bruce nodded, "Yes, tell him thank you."

The server also left two empty glasses and a chilled carafe of water.

"So, you know Italian?" Alice asked.

"A little. Just conversational. "

"You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry?"

"Exactly."

"That might work in Italy," she joked.

"You're right, it might!" he laughed.

They were silent for a moment, he stroked her hand with his thumb.

"Did you know…" he began, peering at her, "That you are so beautiful it almost hurts to look at you?"

She blushed for what felt like the hundredth time. "Well, I hope you're not in too much pain."

"Even if I was, it's worth it."

"Even with my REALLY short hair?" she gestured to her head, rolling her eyes.

"I love your hair."

"Even though it's short?"

"I love it any way you decide to wear it."

"I thought you loved my hair when it was long?"

"Did you cut it to spite me?"

"A little bit, maybe…" she confessed.

He smiled, "Well, that backfired, didn't it?"

She laughed, picking up her glass of wine. She held it up for a toast.

"What are we toasting to?" he asked.

"To…starting over, but not really."

"Perfect," he clinked his glass with hers.

She took a sip and let out a tiny moan. "Oh my God, this is the best wine I've ever tasted!"

Bruce sipped his and followed with a larger sip. "Damn, that is good…"

"I'm kind of happy that we can finish that bottle without getting drunk."

"Well, you can. I can still get drunk," Bruce confessed.

"Really?" she giggled, taking another sip.

"Yes, but I don't. Alcoholism kind of…runs in my family."

"Oh," she nodded, understanding. "I won't drink anything either then."

"Alice…you don't get drunk."

"I know, but I'd feel weird finishing this entire bottle without you."

"I'll have SOME," he gestured to the glass in front of him.

The food was served soon after. Alice thought hers was delicious. She even tried some of Bruce's, which was really good as well. And she wasn't even all that INTO vegetarian cooking.

"Told you. Best vegetarian lasagna in the city," he said, smiling widely.

"Eh. It could use some meat," she teased.

He smirked and continued eating.

Alice couldn't finish her food, so she asked if she could take it with her and the server took her plate away, returning with a cute little foil swan.

"Aw!" she grinned.

After the plates had been cleared, Alice covered her mouth and tried to stifle a yawn.

"Speaking of being so tired you can't see straight…have you been enjoying JARVIS' late night top forty?" asked Bruce.

"Top Forty of what? I think last night was ABBA's greatest hits, with some Lipps, Inc. thrown in for good measure," Alice laughed.

"Now…ABBA was once a very respectable…" Bruce snorted, "Sorry, I couldn't even keep a straight face. That was awful."

Alice giggled, "Jules offered up her couch if it happened again…but I might just go get a hotel room…"

Bruce shrugged, "Tony would be heartbroken."

She rolled her eyes. "Why would that bother me?"

"Because he's your friend."

"He's no friend of mine. He made it quite clear that he's YOUR friend."

"What?" he frowned confusedly as he tore off a piece of bread.

"While you were gone. He told me as much."

"He didn't mean it, Alice. He was mad at me."

"Well, it was the last thing I needed at the time. I'm still not over it."

"Well…how do you like your new apartment? Besides the horrible wake up calls?"

"It feels big. And empty. And…bland. I tried to tack up some of my tapestries and stuff, but…it just doesn't look good. Looks like a beige apartment with a few tapestries tacked up."

"I'm sorry," he made that face, the really cute one that he made when he was trying to be sympathetic. He reached out to grab her hand again. "Are you feeling alright, though?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just tired…haven't been to the gym in 5 days…so…yeah."

"Maybe you should go to a hotel. Just try to get your sleep cycle back on track."

"That's what I was thinking. It's slowly driving everyone insane. I'm starting to wonder if it's not really a glitch in the programming…if it's…" she stopped, shaking her head.

_Don't let the crazy out. It's crazy. Thomas is long gone. If he was back, he would be doing more than playing Lipps Inc. and ABBA at 3 in the morning. _

"Something else?" Bruce finished for her. "Someone else?"

She shrugged.

"I've been wondering the same thing…" he said softly, peering at her.

"Really?"

She felt relieved.

"Yeah, I—um…I'm sorry I didn't believe you before…after… I think I was just in denial. I didn't want anything to ruin what we had…and I wanted to just forget about Thomas. Forget about Samson; forget about Angela, but…we can't do that. I know that now and I'm sorry. I know I'm making excuses…but what I did was wrong. How I treated you was wrong. I was…AM a lousy boyfriend and I'm so, so sorry…"

She felt…tingly. Warm. Her cheeks felt hot.

It was kind of a big deal for Bruce to admit he was wrong about anything.

As much as she wanted to wave it off and tell him it was okay, that she was fine, she knew she couldn't do that.

_Speak your truth. _

That little phrase of Xavier's kept inching its way into her everyday vernacular. Useful little thing.

"Bruce…" she began, "Thank you for apologizing. You WERE a lousy boyfriend before you left…and during…and right after we found you…"

He snorted in mock laughter.

"But…" she continued, "A lousy boyfriend doesn't admit when he's wrong. A lousy boyfriend doesn't agree to couples counseling OR plan an elaborately romantic date. A lousy boyfriend doesn't comfort his equally lousy girlfriend when she confides an irrational fear of mirrors, even though SHE mocked him for his own irrational fear of jellyfish…"

"Alice…"

"So, in short…I forgive you, Bruce Banner. For all of the aforementioned things. And I disagree with your assessment that you are STILL a lousy boyfriend. You aren't. You aren't perfect. But, you're trying. Which is more than I can say for myself."

He tried to protest again, but she wasn't finished.

"No. I wasn't trying. I am now, though. I promise. I'll tell you when you do irritating things, and I'll be straightforward with you about my wants and desires."

He smiled crookedly, in that way she loved. "I guess I can't ask for more than that…"

"And…I'm sorry too. About how I acted before you left. About how I didn't confide in you. About…" she sighed heavily, feeling tears prick the backs of her eyelids, "About Logan."

He visibly winced.

"I was wrong. No matter what you did, you didn't deserve that. I'm so sorry and…" she gulped, suddenly aware of the tears flowing down her cheeks. "I don't know how I will ever prove to you that you can trust me again…"

He plucked a handkerchief from his pocket, and proceeded to dab it carefully under her eyes. "You don't have to prove anything to me. I'd rather just forget about that whole…thing. I know you don't want Logan. I know you didn't want him then. I know what you wanted was for someone to be there for you when I wasn't."

"No…it doesn't matter, I shouldn't have done that."

"Regardless of what we should or shouldn't have done…you were absolutely right when you said it was in the past. It's in the past, let's learn from it and move forward."

He stood, offering his hand. She laced her fingers with his, and they walked outside to the car. Bruce opened the door for her before crossing to the other side.

True to his word, he didn't bring it up again in the car. They chatted amiably and by the time the car had stopped in front of Avengers Tower, he had her laughing again.

Bruce escorted her to her door, planting a kiss on her hand before bidding her goodnight.

Alice held onto his hand tightly, however and slipped her other hand up around to the back of his neck, playing with his hair.

She tentatively rose on her toes to press her lips to his.

It was close-lipped and chaste, but the feel of his lips after so long made her shiver.

He wrapped his other hand around her waist to both support her and pull her closer. He kept his other hand laced with hers.

"Is that all?" he teased after Alice made no other move to kiss him again.

"I thought you'd…"

"You thought I'd take over?"

She nodded, her breathing shallow.

"I thought I wasn't going to 'get anywhere' on the first date?" he teased.

"You can still kiss me," she whispered.

"Since I have your permission…" he grinned as he leaned in. He let go of her hand so her could wrap both arms around her. She let hers slide up around his neck, one sneaking up to the back of his head.

His lips touched her softly, barely touching her before pressing more firmly.

She'd honestly forgotten that he could kiss like this: slow and tender, holding her like she was made out of glass.

She noticed absently how perfectly they fit together, how there wasn't any awkwardness between them. From their first kiss almost a year ago until this one now, they'd had the physical part of their relationship figured out. It was the emotional part that needed help.

Help it was getting now.

He broke off the kiss too soon in her opinion. She could have stood there and kissed him all night. He pressed one more to her lips before leaning back away from her.

"I had a wonderful time," he began, "I hope we can do this again soon."

Alice giggled, "Thank you for…this. All of this…"

"You deserve more."

"THIS was perfect."

"Well…you've got many more to look forward to…"

"When is the next one?"

"I'll…call you? Can I call you?"

She was surprised. "Yeah! I would…LOVE that."

He grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to it again before turning and walking down the hall to his apartment.

Alice fumbled with her keys, letting herself in.

She shut the door and leaned up against it. Very cliché rom-com behavior, but she didn't care. She didn't feel like her legs could carry her at the moment.

Eventually she got up and started getting ready for bed.

She had just settled down under the covers when Chumbawumba started playing at full blast.

She sighed loudly, getting up and grabbing her overnight bag.

_Plaza Hotel…here I come… _she thought groggily.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>

**Like I said, fluff and cheese. It's their 'first date' since getting back together. I did warn you that this one was going to mainly be fluffy goodness. *hearts* **

**What did you think? Did Bruce plan a wonderful date or what? I'm kind of jealous, to be honest. **

**Anyway, there WERE some mentions of Alice's past. Just mentions though. Remember that Xavier shut off a bunch of her memories before? This whole mirrors thing is part of that. Also, JARVIS is acting weird. Hmm, wonder why that is? **

**Sorry I've been so long on this update. I'm not really even sure who is still out there...this is getting views, and I'm still getting followers and favorites, so I know you're all there. You're just being quiet. And that's fine. I suppose no news is good news, right? If you're not saying anything, you must love it. *wink* **

**Anyway, I updated my M rated fic, "While there's something left to save", run over there and give it a read if that's your thing. (Warning, it's rated M for a reason). It's in this same headcanon. It's still Brulice, so give it a look if you haven't. A favorite and a follow if you like it. I'm also accepting prompts for that story, since I've run out of ideas, but I get the feeling that you guys KNOW what you want to see. So, prompt me. I can't promise it will be quick, but I always get around to all of my prompts eventually. **

**As always, I don't own any of the Marvel Universe, but I do own Alice, Preston and Jules. (By the way, what did you think of Jules in this chapter? I think Alice is starting to really miss Darcy. I hope they work things out soon...)**

**Follow/Favorite/Review if you feel so inclined. And please feel inclined to review...pretty please? I don't meant to beg for reviews, but I really need to know how I'm doing with this. I know a few of you said that you had jumped the Brulice ship and I was wondering if I was any closer to getting you back on board. **

**Much love! **


End file.
